


The Fundamentals of Being a Hero

by orphan_account



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, X Men AU, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 23:53:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2170104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One year on the run. Two years in solitary confinement. Brian Zeller is more than happy to stay where he is until two students of Jack Crawford's break their way into his prison cell and offer him a second chance at living his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for [Hannibal Rare Pairings.](http://hannibal-summer-rare-pairs.tumblr.com/)  
> For [Roxanne](http://thisjabroni.tumblr.com) for being so supportive and amazing, for our writing sessions, and for reading it and always being so sweet, this wouldn't have got written without you!  
> Also for [Charli](http://eattheclones.tumblr.com) because you're a wonderful friend and I love you and also for reading through it for me.

Two years with nothing but four walls, a bed, a toilet, and three meals pushed through his door every day had turned Brian Zeller into a skinny, pale, seventeen year old. Most people would consider it a living nightmare; the lack of contact, the claustrophobic space, and the only company your own thoughts rattling around your head which had a way of turning unpleasant quickly. All of it enough to send even the sanest person to the brink of insanity.

For the year prior to his confinement Brian hadn’t been blessed with thoughts that were anything _but_ unpleasant, and the lack of human contact meant there was no opportunity for him to accidentally kill someone. After being on the run and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, solitary confinement was a godsend, which was why when two people ran directly through his cell wall and announced themselves his rescue party, his reaction was not relief, but anger.

He was sitting with his back up against the wall, knees up to his chest as was his usual position in the hours between eating and sleeping. It was coming up to the time of day when the sun found the right position in the sky to shine directly through the tiny window, providing a little extra light and warmth on his skin. Just before the light crept over the edge however, his attention was turned to burst of authoritative shouting from somewhere beyond his cell. The noise wasn’t unusual, there was always someone – officers or inmates – yelling about something, but today an extra edge of panic tainted their voices.

Brian turned away from the door. It didn’t bother him and he didn’t want to miss his precious hour of sunlight, so naturally it was a surprise when a girl and boy about his age appeared in his cell with no sign of having used the door.

“Hi, I’m Jimmy Price and this is Beverly Katz. We’re here to rescue your sorry ass,” the boy explained in a rush, trying to catch his breath. Brian stared up at the two of them confoundedly from his spot on the floor.

“I don’t need to be rescued,” he said. They looked at each other, confused by his reaction, but before they had time to argue with him they were interrupted by the sound of jangling keys unlocking the door from the other side. The girl rolled her eyes and turned to Brian.

“RUN!” she screamed at him, and the shock of being screeched at in such a small space was enough to start Brian to his feet. Before he knew it, Beverly had grabbed hold of his arm, being careful to make sure that his sleeve was between her hand and his skin, and pulled him with surprising the strength towards the wall of the cell. She had a hold of Jimmy as well, although less forcefully, and the three of them ran through the building, ignoring walls and fences and even people, as though their physical nature was something that could be turned off at will.

The problem with having been in solitary for two years, was the lack of exercise available to him, and hence Brian’s body was horribly underprepared for the sudden bout of exertion. His heart thumped at an alarming rate, desperately trying to supply oxygen to the muscles now working in overdrive. He was glad that Beverly had such a tight grip on him because he was certain he wouldn’t have kept up otherwise.

Once outside the prison building they kept up the chase, Brian jumped every time he heard a gun being fired but was too busy trying not to throw up to notice the bullets flying straight through them as though they were ghosts. One last fence and he was pushed roughly into the back of a van, Beverly taking the wheel and Jimmy the passenger seat, leaving Brian to collapse in the space at the back. His lungs were on fire and his breath was a sickening wheeze. Jimmy and Beverly laughed delightedly as the van flew at high speed towards their destination. They had clearly enjoyed themselves and didn’t seem to be worried about the chance of being pursued.

Back in the prison, the sun shone through his window, a band of light stretching across an empty cell.

“What the _fuck?_ ” Brian said through deep breaths. “ _What the fuck!?”_ he slammed a hand down on the vehicle. The two sitting in the front turned around, the grins dropping from their faces.

“I think that’s supposed to be _thank you,”_ Jimmy said. “Well, if we were going by fairy tale rules I’m pretty sure that when the valiant knight rescues the damsel in distress he gets a kiss, but I could live with a simple thank you.”

Brian thought about punching him, but instead turned pointedly to talk to Beverly. “Where are you taking me?” he asked her. She looked over her shoulder and then back to the road.

“To see a man called Jack Crawford, he wants to talk to you about your uh, you know the fact that you’re-”

“A freak,” Brian finished for her, slumping back against the wall and instinctively resuming his curled up position. Beverly and Jimmy exchanged a look. “I get it okay, even by mutant standards I’m a freak.”

The word _mutant_ felt heavy on his tongue, he thought it was too kind a word to describe his problem. Any living thing that touched his skin died. There was no way of turning it off or controlling it, and it meant any intimacy was out of the question for the rest of his life. To his surprise, neither Beverly nor Jimmy looked sympathetic.

“Wow, and I thought that you were a drama queen, Jim,” Beverly muttered, they both ignored her as she carried on driving. The two boys now glaring at each other, locked into an unspoken staring competition.

“Look princess, where we’re going we’re all, as you so nicely put it, _freaks_. Don’t start walking around like you’re something special because you’re not. We’ve all had to put up with shit, okay?” Jimmy warned him. Beverly shook her head, neither of them noticing she was trying not to laugh. Brian dropped his gaze to his lap, feeling uncomfortable. Too stubborn to raise his head again, he quickly began to feel his stomach churn with motion sickness. Before long, Beverly and Jimmy started talking in low voices, he caught snippets of their conversation as they discussed how Jack Crawford was going react when they turned up with a renegade mutant who had, apparently, been happy where he was. Brian guessed their rescue plan hadn’t been approved.

The van eventually pulled to a stop, crunching up a gravel driveway before Beverly jumped out and opened the door for Brian. It was a private moment as he stepped out into the late afternoon sun. He hadn’t been able to appreciate it whilst he’d been hurtling at full speed towards the van, but he assumed that they were now safe. He took a deep breath of fresh air as Jimmy and Beverly stood next to each other and looked awkwardly around them, not wanting to intrude on this moment.

It was autumn, and Brian looked around with wide eyes, taking in the orange, red, and yellow leaves fluttering on the trees and falling to the ground in layer that crackled deliciously underfoot. The grass was greener than he remembered, as though the idea of colour had begun to fade from his memory like the edges of old photographs. Then his eyes fell on the mansion overlooking them. Even when he was free he had never seen a house this big.

The other two teenagers watched him with embarrassment, but it became difficult to look away from the sheer delightedness that had overcome his permanent scowl.

“Didn’t want to be saved my ass,” Beverly muttered to Jimmy who was trying to decide whether he had been quiet for long enough to make a joke. “Come on Brian, time to meet the boss.”

“Also possibly time to say goodbye to us forever because he’s probably going to kill us for what we did no matter how ungrateful you are,” Jimmy added. Brian snapped back to the present, a frown reappearing on his face. 

“Should have left me where I was then,” he replied, thrusting his hands into his pocket. He was aware of the fact that Jimmy wanted him to bite and to ask, why, if they hadn’t been supposed to, they’d bothered breaking him out, but he refused to take the bait.

Beverly nudged her friend with her elbow and they both started walking up the drive, Brian trailing behind them kicking at stones and only looking up every few paces. When they reached the house the door opened before Beverly had a chance to unlock it. The two in front stopped so suddenly that Brian nearly walked into them.

“Price, Katz, my office _now,_ ” the man said, and Brian didn’t need anyone to tell him that his was Jack Crawford. His voice rung with absolute leadership. He looked behind the two guilty teens and surveyed the third, noticing the loosely fitting prison wear hanging from his malnourished frame. His face was sickly pale and etched with tiredness. A woman appeared behind Jack and looked disapprovingly at Beverly and Jimmy. 

“Can you take Brian through to the kitchen and fix him something to eat? I’ll be through after I’ve dealt with these two,” Jack said to her.  She nodded and outstretched a hand.

“Come on through,” she smiled at him. Beverly and Jimmy gave him weary nods as he passed them. “What do you fancy?” she asked as she led him through the hallway. He didn’t reply straight away as he took in the grandiose décor.

“Anything,” he shrugged, remembering that he had been spoken to.

“Cooking isn’t really my strong point but I’ve been told I make a decent grilled cheese and how about…” she stared into the cupboard for a moment. “Some tomato soup?”

“Sure, thanks,” he agreed, hovering in the doorway. She smiled at him.

“You can sit down,” she said. Brian moved forward into the room and took a seat at the blue tiled breakfast bar, then watched the woman as she prepared his food. She was perhaps mid-thirties, pretty, with long, brown curls falling below her shoulders.

“I’m Alana, by the way,” she told him. “I forgot I didn’t tell you that since I already know so much about you, Brian.” She titled her head slightly, curious for his reaction. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit shell shocked, I guess. This isn’t really the day I had planned,” he replied. Alana gave a small laugh, relieved that despite everything he had been through, he’d retained a hint of a sense of humour. She sat down opposite him as the food heated up.

“Jack’s going to explain everything to you in a moment. This isn’t exactly how he had this planned either if that makes you feel any better,” she told him.

“So I supposed to be coming here?” Brian ventured, now the initial shock was wearing off confusion was taking over as he tried to work out where he was and who these people were.

“Jack’s had his eye on you for a while. Despite what you may think of yourself you’re not a bad person, Brian. We want to help you, so hear Jack out.”

Brian got the message loud and clear; Alana was not allowed to reveal too much until her boss got here, and that made him feel nervous. Uncharacteristically he began to fidget. Alana stood up and finished preparing his food and then placed it in front of him and retook her seat. Brian took a moment to look at the food, compared to the texture-less, grey mush he was used to being served three times a day, this looked like a feast. He took a large spoonful of soup into his mouth, burning his tongue but not caring. Ungracefully he began shovelling the food in, marvelling at the stringy cheese oozing out the side of the sandwich with every bite.

He became so engrossed with eating that he failed to notice Jack enter the room, and it was only when he took a seat next to Alana that Brian looked up and swallowed what was in his mouth before he’d finished chewing it, then pretended he wasn’t about to choke. Jack’s steady stare made him uncomfortable.

“Do I get to find out why I’m here now?” he asked bluntly, not enjoying the silence. Jack’s weight shifted forward slightly, his hands clasped loosely on the table in front of him.

“I thought that you would be an asset to our… organisation,” he began. Jack had a way of talking that made people want to listen. Each word sounded like it had been carefully chosen and rehearsed, and his voice itself was deep and smooth. “There were ongoing negotiations to have you removed from the facility. Beverly and Jimmy apparently thought it wasn’t going to happen and took matters into their own hands, I suspect the real reason is closer to they just wanted to show off.”

Brian had a million questions, but thought it best to let him continue to speak. Jack didn’t seem like the kind of person who took kindly to being interrupted.

“This,” he moved his hands upwards gesturing the building. “Is my school. I sell it as a place for _gifted_ students, but everyone here is like us – a mutant. This is a safe place, Brian, you don’t have to hide here.”

 _That’s all very well,_ Brian thought to himself. _But it doesn’t mean I won’t accidentally kill someone if they stand too close to me._

“We’re working on that,” Jack said, for the first time showing the hint a smile. Alana’s lips also twitched at the corners. They allowed Brian a moment of quiet as he worked it out on his own.

“You’re a telepath,” the teenager said in realisation. Jack gave a single nod. Brian couldn’t help but feel jealous. More than anything he wished he was just a normal person, but if he had to be a mutant, why couldn’t he have been born with a mutation he could hide easily, a mutation that would be useful to him. He quickly shut his thoughts down, now horribly aware that they were no longer solely his.  He felt Jack and Alana watching him.

“It’s okay, I try not to make a habit of invading people’s minds unless I have to,” Jack said. When Brian didn’t reply, he carried on with his explanation. “I have been aware of your case for a while now, and I don’t believe locking you away in a simple prison cell will do you any good. Luckily S.H.I.E.L.D agrees with me and we were planning on getting you moved here within the next few weeks.”

“That’s the government agency who deals with people like us,” Alana added quickly, noticing the discreet frown Brian made at the mention of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Brian felt dizzy with the sudden influx of information, and the two adults gave him a moment to process it all. “What else?” he asked slowly, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What do you want from me?”

“For now, nothing,” Jack said. “But you’ve missed a lot of things Brian, the world is changing and a power like yours isn’t something I want falling into the wrong hands.”

“So I’m still a prisoner?” he replied, not bothering to retract the bitterness from his voice.

“Try and think of it as protective measures, there are people who would love to have you on their side, Brian, and I would rather that didn’t happen,” as he spoke, Jack stood up.

“I’m not weapon,” Brian said quietly. “I won’t let you or anyone else use me as one.”

“Good,” Jack said, and with that he left the room. Brian reflected on the conversation with two words echoing louder than the others. _For now._ It darkened his future considerably as he wondered what Jack would do when he did need someone to fight his battles.

Brian wasn’t stupid, he knew the kind of things Jack was referring to when he said ‘the world was changing’. They had just begun to bubble when he had discovered his own mutation; humans despising mutants out of fear, mutants who hated humans for the way that they were being treated, and mutants who wanted everyone to get along and play nicely. Brian wondered which side he’d been brought to, and hoped he wasn’t about to get wrapped up in the centre of it all.

“I’ll show you to your new bedroom, if you like,” Alana offered. Brian nodded and finished his food. _Or do you mean my new prison cell?_


	2. Chapter 2

 “Just because you can walk through walls, it doesn’t mean you _should,”_ Jimmy protested, opening the door and following Beverly through to Brian’s bedroom, neither of them having knocked first. Brian was sitting on his bed, wearing an oversized hoodie and some jeans that Alana had found for him. He seemed unsure of what he should be doing with himself. The idea that the whole house and grounds were open to him was overwhelming, and so he had spent the last hour sitting by himself reflecting on the day’s events.

“But it makes me look _awesome_ ,” Beverly laughed and flopped down on the bed next to Brian who wasn’t about to admit he agreed with Jimmy. Beverly should provide some sort of warning before she waltzed through walls and doors announced. It was unnerving. “How are you doing, Brian?”

“Fine,” he replied, pulling his sleeves down over his hands all too aware of how close Beverly was to him. She didn’t seem to care. Jimmy took a seat opposite them on a bed that wasn’t being used. Most students, especially the younger ones he had been informed, shared rooms. It had been thought best that Brian should be given his own space for the time being, and so now the extra bed served as a reminder that it was dangerous for people to be around him.

“So are you going to ask if this is the last time you’re going to see our pretty faces in case Jack is planning on locking us away for ever?” Beverly asked, rolling over so that she was facing the ceiling, her long black hair hanging over the side of the bed. Brian shuffled away to put a couple of extra centimetres between them, just in case.

“So?” he complied, noticing Jimmy smirk as he made himself at home, propping up some pillows against the headboard and leaning back.

“Well, usually he yells when he’s mad,” Beverly said.

“But if he says angry words in a really quiet voice, that’s when you know he’s pissed and you’re probably dead meat,” Jimmy continued. Brian looked at them both. Neither of them seemed particularly phased by their dealings with Jack, in fact they seemed quite chipper.  

“Oh, he totally yelled at us,” Beverly grinned, seeing the look on Brian’s face. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear him actually, you should have seen the away Jim jumped across the room.”

“I did _not_ ,” Jimmy argued.

“Did _so_. Anyway, it means that secretly Jack is pleased we hurried things up. It was Jack that gave us the idea anyway. The other day we overheard him saying that it was better to ask forgiveness than permission if you needed something done. Anyway, we _have_ got something to tell you,” Beverly said. Brian hooked his legs up onto the bed, and then crossed them trying to make himself appear more relaxed. “I guess part of the reason we busted you out was because we were curious about this. See we know about your power, your uh-”

“Magical touch of death?” Jimmy suggested, earning a sharp glance from Beverly.

“Your mutation,” she said simply. Under the sleeves of his hoodie, Brian clenched and unclenched his fists. “And we think that Jimmy here…” she looked over at Jimmy. “You explain.”

“Well my mutation is cooler than anyone else’s and is probably the greatest gift to mankind ever because it means I am, for all intents and purposes, immortal,” he explained, he sat up and swung his legs back over the edge of the bed. Brian looked at him with curiosity, for the first time since they’d met not wishing him to shut up. “Regenerative healing factor,” he added, when he realised it was going to take longer than he could be bothered to wait for Brian to catch on. “Would you like a demonstration?”

“Okay,” Brian agreed at exactly the same time that Beverly gave a resounding _no._

“Bev punch me,” Jimmy said. Beverly rolled her eyes and sighed as though she had done this a million times before, and of course they had. It was Jimmy’s favourite party to trick to evoke someone into punching him and then healing before their eyes. Beverly would pretend she thought it was stupid, but would never pass up the chance to be the one who punched him. She jumped up and cracked her knuckles. Jimmy stood opposite her and gestured with his hands for her to do it.

“Go on,” he said, “aim for my-”

Before the rest of the sentence left his mouth Beverly’s fist was thrown with full force towards his nose, which gave a sickening crack. Brian winced in sympathy. Blood quickly trickled from Jimmy’s nostril, and Beverly looked pleased with herself as she stepped backwards.

“Ouch!” Jimmy complained. “You didn’t need to hit me that hard!”

“I thought Brian should really see the full potential of your wonderful mutation, oh immortal one,” she laughed as she reclaimed her original spot next to Brian, this time laying on her stomach and waving her legs around in the air. “Go on then,” she encouraged, waggling her eyebrows at Brian who appeared to almost be smiling.

Jimmy stood up on his bed and stretched his arms out wide to create a showcase of himself. You could clearly see where his nose was broken as it jolted out horrendously to the left, but Brian watched with amazement as slowly the bone became less prominent and it reformed its normal shape. He then wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve and bowed.

“Ta da,” he laughed as Beverly clapped, he then gave the two of them a bow and jumped off from the bed, touching his nose just to check it was okay. “So, you worked it out yet?” he directed at Brian as he lounged across the spare bed again. Brian’s face tightened again as he became the centre on attention. He shook his head.

“They reckon I have one of the strongest healing mutations there is, I can’t die! Which means you should be able to touch me without killing me,” he explained. Brian scrambled backwards off the bed and stood with his hands in fists by his side, looking like rabbit in headlights. Beverly sat up.

“ _No_ ,” Brian warned them.

“Oh come on, princess, how about that kiss?” Jimmy laughed. Beverly shot him a warning look before standing up to face Brian. She moved round to his side of the bed, but then took a step backwards towards the wall, showing that she wasn’t going to come any closer.

“Sorry, Brian, it was too soon to bring that up,” she said. “We didn’t meant to freak you out, we just thought you would want to know that your mutation doesn’t mean you have to lock yourself away.”

“ _No,_ it’s because you wanted to show off just like Jack said,” Brian spat at them. Jimmy glowered as he too, stood up.

“Why do you have to react like we’re all out to get you?” Jimmy asked. “I thought you’d be happy, are you not even curious?”

“Are you not worried that I might be the one thing that _could_ kill you?” Brian asked in return. His whole body was rigid. He looked like he was prepared to run the moment if either of them moved towards him. Beverly played out a number of different scenarios in the head, trying to settle on the best thing to say. She didn’t know Brian, but she knew Jimmy and how short tempered he was.

“Not really, but I am worried we wasted our time on an asshole who can’t even bring himself to say thank you!” Jimmy said.

“Well maybe if you two weren’t so caught up in acting like you’re fucking _heroes_ you would have noticed that some people are happy being left alone, and not brought somewhere they could kill people. Even if it is only other freaks,” Brian voice was loud now, and he was sure other people could hear the argument but didn’t care.

“Hey!” Beverly snapped at him. “You know what? Fuck you. We’re trying to make you feel welcome, Brian, but if you think we’re just a bunch of freaks then maybe it’s just best we leave you alone. Come on Jimmy.”

Jimmy walked over and grabbed Beverly’s hand and together they walked through the door without bothering to open it, leaving Brian where he was and bubbling with anger. He grabbed the pillows from his bed and held them against the wall with one hand, and then repeatedly threw his other hand into them, trying to punch away his feelings. It didn’t take long for sheer exhaustion to take over and tears to flood his eyes. He fell down to his knees and rested his head against the wall, dropping the pillows to his side. His shoulders heaved as his sobbed in earnest, trying to work out how everything had changed so quickly.

There was a knock on his door that caused him to look up, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the wetness. He chucked the pillows back onto his bed and sat down next to them.

“Yeah?” he said. The door opened a crack as Alana poked her head around.

“Are you okay, Brian?” she asked. Brian nodded.

“You can come in,” he coughed to clear his throat, aware that it sounded croaky and thick with tears. Alana politely didn’t mention it.

“I found you some more clothes,” she said, putting them next to him. “Are you sure you’re okay, I thought I heard shouting?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Brian said. He knew he was being standoffish and probably rude, but he wanted more than anything to be left alone. He felt as though Alana was the one person he had really gelled with today, she had been kind but also hadn’t pressed him too hard. She carried on in the same manner, giving him a knowing smile. “Get a good night’s rest,” she told him before leaving the room.

The need to cry had dissipated in the last few moments and so Brian was left feeling unsettled and jumpy. He knew it was too early to go to bed yet, but Alana’s suggestion was the only one he had to go on, and so he ended up crawling under his new covers without changing his clothes. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep, which wasn’t a surprise with the day he’d had, but as soon as the dreams came it couldn’t be considered a good night’s sleep.

He brain flashed with bright images of faces new and old, of running through the prison, of running away from home. He saw people - the people he had killed and ones he could possibly kill in the future. They were abstract and strange colours, face and names and places never quite matching up. He awoke with a start, and lay breathing heavily for a few minutes taking in the new day’s light. It didn’t seem like five minutes ago he had gone to sleep.

After showering, he rifled through the clothes that had been left for him the previous night, and on finding a pair of gloves felt the most relief he had felt since he’d arrived here. He put them on and pulled his hoodie up around his face, aware that it made him look like a criminal but it was all he could do to reduce people being at risk. After a number of wrong turns through the mansion’s extensive hallways and staircases, his ears were greeted with the chaotic noises of what he only hoped could be breakfast.

He hesitated where he was, his whole body feeling heavy under the excessive amount of clothing he wore and he thought about going back to his room when he heard footsteps behind him.

“I suppose it sounds quite disconcerting when you’re new here,” a voice said as he drew closer to Brian. The teenager turned around to find a scruffy looking man in a jumper and glasses, hair poking out at all angles. “I’m Will, one of the teachers.”

“Brian,” he said back. Will gave him a small smile and a nod, obviously he knew who Brian was.

“Come on, I can introduce you,” he said. They walked the rest of the way together, and as they got to the door of the kitchen in a hallway that Brian now recognised, Brian took a deep breath to steady himself and put his gloved hands in his pockets. Will went in ahead of him, and Brian stopped in the door, surveying the scene.

“Freddie, please stop using your mutation to make toast, you’ll end up burning the house down,” Alana was telling a girl a who looked a year or two younger than Brian. She pouted as she moved her hand from above a plate which now held half crisped bread. In her palm sat flickering flames which slowly died as Alana had chided her. Beverly was pouring milk over cereal for some children who could have been no more than eleven or twelve. Jimmy was talking to a blonde girl, sat at the table. The only other person who seemed to be Brian’s age was a girl sitting in the corner by herself, she looked monumentally fed up with the shouting and laughing from the other students, and already had a face of perfectly done make up.

When they all noticed Brian, the room fell silent.

“Everyone, this is Brian Zeller he’s going to be joining us so be nice, okay?” Will announced. He made his way through the kitchen leaving Brian standing where he was and pecked Alana on the cheek. “Morning,” he said quietly.

“So what do you do?” the girl that Alana had called Freddie, asked Brian. The room watched him expectantly.

“He kills people,” Jimmy piped up, his eye fixed steadily on the boy in the doorway, making it clear that they were not on good terms. The silence in the room suddenly felt heavier.

“ _Jimmy_ ,” Alana warned him, pulling out of an embrace with Will, his hand not leaving her waist. Even Beverly shot him a look trying to make him shut up.

“Don’t worry,” Brian muttered, stepping properly into the room and walking over to the other side. “It’s true, just make sure you don’t touch my skin.”

He took a seat opposite to the girl he’s had his eye on earlier who seemed disinterested in what was going on. The rest of the room didn’t take long to get back to their former state of rowdiness.

“That’s some mutation,” the girl said to him, eyeing his scruffy clothes and pale face. Had she not been interested in his powers she seemed like the kind of person who would turn her nose up at him, as it was, she made conversation. “Do you take requests?”

“What?”

“If I asked you to find my brother and kill him, would you?”

Brian stared at her, his mouth falling open slightly. After a few seconds, the girl smirked, her expression droll.

“I was joking,” she said. Brian closed his mouth, his cheeks tinging pink. “I’m Margot Verger.”

“Right. I’m Brian,” he muttered. “Er, Zeller. Brian Zeller.”

“Nice to meet you Brian,” she replied. She leaned over the table a little more and spoke quieter. “This place isn’t so bad, by the way, if you can get over the constant ‘mutant and proud’ propaganda they like to shove down our throats,” she spoke quietly as though she didn’t want the other to hear her saying something that could almost be considered a compliment. 

“How long have you been here?” Brian asked.

“Brian, cereal or toast?” Alana called over to him, wiggling the box that was in her hand and then looking around the room for the loaf of bread before realising Freddie had her hands on it again. “Both?” she smiled. Brian nodded, smiling back at her, and turned to Margot again awaiting his answer.

“Since I was fourteen, so, four years now,” she said. “You get used to it quickly, lessons aren’t so bad and as long as we don’t do something stupid, the evenings and weekends are pretty much our own. You look old enough they’ll probably let you train with us as well.”

“Train?”

“Yeah, combat and self-defence, it’s a team thing. I guess with your mutation you’ll be pretty valuable,” she said.

“I don’t want to be part of any team,” Brian muttered. They stopped their conversation as Alana put a bowl of cereal in front of him, giving Margot a look to show that she wished she would eat something, but knowing after having this conversation every day for years, that Margot would not eat breakfast, and so left them to it.

“I give you a few weeks,” she said. Brian gave her a sceptical look. “I _know_ bad people, and these aren’t them. Honestly? The quicker you get out of your angst ridden _I’ve been locked up for years poor me_ , thing the quicker you’ll make friends.” Brain opened his mouth, but before he could speak Margot rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. You don’t want to make friends. Except you’re sat here talking to me so clearly you do.”

Brian concentrated on his cereal, trying to think of a reply, but as Alana came over and set his toast down, Margot stood up.

“Think about it,” she shrugged before flouncing off out of the room, ignoring Will telling her she should wait until everyone was finished. On seeing her leave, Freddie tried to follow her, but sat down again when Jack came into the room.

“Good morning,” he greeted them. He looked over at Brian and gave him a nod before sitting down with some of the younger children, engaging them in some questions about how their lessons were going. Brian crunched away on his food, observing the rest of the room. Beverly had now joined Jimmy and the blonde girl whose name he caught as Georgia, the two friends laughing as Georgia smiled, but kept her head down.

Jack made his way round the room, talking to everyone including Alana and Will, until he sat down in the seat which had previously been Margot’s.

“Are you feeling better this morning?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Brian replied, trying to brush crumbs off from his hoodie and the table without drawing attention to how much mess he had made. If Jack noticed he didn’t say anything.

“When you’ve finished eating could you come into my office please, there are some S.H.I.E.L.D Agents here who just want to talk to you and get some things in order,” he said. “Apart from that you’re free for the day, I haven’t got a timetable sorted out for you yet so just get acquainted with the house and gardens.”

“Timetable?” Brian questioned.

“For you lessons, I’m assuming after two years in solitary confinement you’d like to catch up with you education?”

“ _Yes,”_ Brian said, with an enthusiasm Jack had not been expecting. Brian Zeller was not a stupid person. He was extremely intelligent and whilst at school would have been a model pupil if his ego hasn’t consistently landed him in so much trouble. Then he had discovered his mutation and his whole life had fallen away from him, and replaced with one of moving from town to town leaving body after body.

“Good, we’ll get you started in the next couple of days,” Jack kept the conversation short by standing up and nodding at the nearly finished toast. “My office when you’re done, up the first flight of stairs second door on the right,” he reminded the teenager then left, ruffling the hair of a small boy waiting by the door for him.

Brian finished the rest of his food and took his plate over to the sink where a boy and a girl were supposed to be washing up, but instead were covering each other in bubbles and giggling. He left the kitchen and looked up and down the corridor trying to fix the place in his memory, and then followed the head teacher’s directions to his office. Just before he raised his hand to knock on the door, he could hear Jack on the other side.

“Just come in, Brian,” he called out. Brian opened the door and stepped into the room. It was exactly how he had imagined a head teacher’s office at a school such as this should be. A big mahogany desk, bookshelves lining the walls, a window looking over the gardens. Jack was sitting behind his desk, but when Brian came in he moved, bringing his chair round to the front, next to where a man and a woman were sitting.

“Have my seat Brian, I’m going to let you get on with it,” he told them, giving the male agent a clap on the shoulder much to his annoyance. Brian sat down in Jack’s chair, it was slightly higher than the ones the adults were sitting on which gave him a small sense of control.

“Brian, my name is Agent Miriam Lass,” the female agent said. Her blonde hair was tight back in a ponytail and she was wearing a crisp black suit, the trousers tailored to hug close to her legs and tucked into knee high black boots. One of her hands, he realised, was metal, although it was the perfect replica and appeared to be fully flexible.

“Agent Frederick Chilton,” the man said, outstretching his own hand. Brian looked at it and raised an eyebrow. His hands were gloved still, but he was still nervous about touching people. After a second the agent dropped his hand. “Of course, my apologies.”

“First of all we’d like to say we regret the actions that were taken yesterday regarding your… release… it wasn’t as we planned it. We would like to deal with the two students in question ourselves but Jack has assured us that he’s dealing with it internally. Had things gone to plan, we would have been moving you here in two weeks’ time once all the official paper work had been signed,” Agent Lass explained.

Brian didn’t speak, he just stared at them, wondering how Agent Lass ended up with a metal hand. Brian couldn’t see because of the jacket of her sleeve, but in reality Miriam’s whole arm was bionic.

“There are some simple rules you need to stick to,” Agent Chilton continued. “You stay in the house and grounds unless you are accompanied by Jack, Alana, or Will. You keep those gloves on and as much skin covered as possible, and you are aware at all time of the risk that you pose, and if at any point feel like you are _putting_ people at risk, you remove yourself from the situation. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Brian said.

“We will be dropping in on you every week to see how you’re doing, I’m sure you’ll find being here beneficial. Jack wants to help you, let him,” Miriam added. They awaited an answer, but Brian never provided one. He wasn’t going to pretend to be happy with the set up. “Well, we won’t stick around I’m sure you’ve got a lot of acclimatising to do. We’ll see you next week, Brian.”

The two agents stood up, and left the room. Brian waited a few minutes for Jack, but when he didn’t come back he let himself out of the office and began wandering idly around house. He ran his hands over wooden bannisters and old paintings hung on walls, not paying much attention to where he was. Eventually he stopped and looked out of a window, staring across the grounds. His eyes rested on a basketball court, and he smiled to himself, knowing exactly how he was going to spend the rest of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

Brian had quickly taken to spending long periods of time sitting outside. After a week of being at the school he had started his lessons, taken to running laps of the ground, and tentatively began forming the basis of friendships. Most of all he was enjoying the freedom of being able to sit in the gardens and read or listen to music at his own pleasure.

He was sat up against a tree, not too far from the house. His back was slumped against the trunk of the plant but his legs stretched out in front of him, one curled under the other. Earlier that day whilst examining the library, he’d found a book that tied in with his biology class which he was now reading.  It was a cold evening, his breath evaporating from his lips with every exhalation, twisting and turning into the dusk sky like smoke. The temperature wasn’t bothering him, as usual his hands were gloved and he was wearing a winter coat, pulled up around his face.

“Hey there, Brian,” Beverly greeted him. She had seen Brian from her bedroom window, and realised that despite her efforts during the past couple of days, she was sure that Brian was oblivious to fact she had been trying to make amends with him. She sat down beside him and rubbed her hands together. “Are you not cold?”

“No I’m okay, lots of layers,” he said, pulling at the fabric of his coat. The closed the book, putting it down next to him. “Are you still mad at me?”

“Nah,” Beverly said, shaking her head. “I try not to hold grudges, it never did anyone any good least of all me,” she smiled. Brian dipped his head, trying to find the words to tell her how sorry he was about what he had said to her. Beverly had never tried to be anything other than nice to him.

“Look, I’m sorry about calling you – everyone – a freak, I didn’t mean it,” he said. He scratched his nose then his fingers rested on his book and started idly fiddling with the corner of the cover.

“Apology accepted,” she grinned, Brian looked back up at her and found himself smiling back. “So a week, huh? How’re you finding it?”

“It’s…” Brian hesitated, his pride not allowing him to admit that he was enjoying himself when he had been so petulant to start off with. Beverly nudged him with her shoulder and laughed. He tensed up when he felt the contact, but then forced him so to relax. It was fine, he told himself. She knew not to touch his skin, she wasn’t stupid.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that Mister I-Hate-Everyone is enjoying himself,” she teased.

“Shut up,” he joked, and then stopped as he found himself laughing. Beverly knew she was right not to have given up on him, she had a tendency to be right about people and her feeling that Brian Zeller was a good person may still prove to be right.

“So, you can walk through stuff? That’s neat,” Brian said, trying his best to keep the conversation going. He realised that being away from people for two years had not helped develop his social skills. He constantly second guessed himself, wondering if he was saying the right thing and how much or little he should say before he let the other person speak.

“It’s called intangibility,” she told him. “You want to know the science?” Brian nodded. Beverly tucked her hair behind her ear at sat up straighter, moving her hands around as she spoke. “Okay, so do you know about everything being made of atoms, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he nearly scoffed, insulted that she’d have to ask such a basic question, but stopped himself at the last moment, keeping his voice even.

“Well because of the way an atoms and molecules are structured, there’s actually more empty space in a solid structure than there is matter,” she paused. “If you imagine an atom being the size of a cathedral, the nucleus would only be the size of a bee. That gives you an idea of the amount of space I’m talking about.”

“Okay,” Brian said to show he was taking it in.

“So when I want to, say, run through a wall, I just make it so that the atoms I’m made out of line up with the empty spaces in the wall,” she pulled a face, knowing that she wasn’t explaining it well.

“Can you see the spaces?” Brian asked, trying to work it out in his head.

“No, no,” he hesitated and made a humming sound as she thought about it, running a hand through her hair. “I can just feel it? I don’t have to think ‘Oh, I need to make my atoms line up’ I just concentrate a bit and I can turn it on, I guess it doesn’t make much sense.”

“And you can extend it to other people?” Brian asked, thinking about her pulling himself and Jimmy through the prison building.

“Sure can,” she nodded, “it takes a little more concentration but I’m getting better at it. That’s part of what Jack does with us here, teaches us to control and develop our mutations. It’s like any muscle really, the more excise you give it the stronger it gets.” She stopped, then asked, “What about yours, or do you not want to talk about it?”

“It’s fine,” Brian muttered. He stared at his hands, now covered in his black leather gloves. “People just… die when they touch me. I can’t turn it off, I don’t know how or if it’s even possible.”

Beverly frowned. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It must be horrible, but maybe with the right training you’ll be able to control it, or maybe we can make you some equipment that stops… whatever it is that happens so that you _can_ turn it on and off. I could take some blood samples, study your mutation if you don’t mind hanging out in the labs with me and Jim for a while.”

“You could study me?” Brian asked.

“Absolutely, when I’m not teaching the younger kids I’m just doing my own research now,” she explained, her chest puffed out slightly. She was proud of how much Jack allowed her to do in the school. “You could say I’m something of a genius,” she laughed again. “Jim’s not bad either.”

“I should apologise to Jimmy,” Brian muttered.

“Jim’s made up his mind that he hates you,” Beverly told him. “But look, if you make enough of an effort, he’ll come around. He’s just stubborn.”

“He’s kind of an asshole,” Brian said.

“And so are you,” she pointed out. “Look, I’m not going to tell you Jimmy’s whole life story because it’s not my place. No, he doesn’t kill people by touch and no he hasn’t been locked away for years of his life. He has been through some shit though, I was there with Jack when we found him and it wasn’t pretty, Brian. Like he said back in the van, we’ve all been through some shit and no one knows that like Jimmy, and I suspect, you.”

Brian looked over at the house, and then back to Beverly.  

“And I won’t let you into the lab if you two will just keep arguing,” she teased. “I’m going to go back inside, it’s freezing. Are you coming?”

“Yeah, sure,” Brian said. He clambered to his feet, remembering to pick up his book, and walked side by side with Beverly over the lawn towards the house. Soft orange light was glowing through windows and cracks in the curtains, inviting them back in. Brian realised how dark it had become since he’d been sitting with Beverly, the moon was mostly covered by clouds threatening to rain on them if stayed outside any longer.

“So, are friends now Bri?” Beverly grinned.

“Maybe, as long as you don’t call me ‘Bri.’”

Brian had the best night’s sleep he’d had all week that night, he woke up feeling refreshed and optimistic about the day ahead. He had a morning of lessons with Alana and then Jack, and that afternoon he was allowed in the laboratory with Beverly and Jimmy. The absurd amount of clothing he dressed in was now becoming normal to him, and when he was ready he made his way down the memorised halls of the mansion.

As with the previous mornings, he was greeting by the noise of the kitchen rather than the sight. In this particular instance it was Alana’s voice that reached his ears first.

“…And if I catch you using your mutation so recklessly again, Fredricka, I am going to send you to Jack,” Brian couldn’t help but smile, Freddie Lounds was a fifteen year old who couldn’t be prouder of the fact she could create and control fire. She also happened to think it was funny to scare the younger students by setting things on fire spontaneously before putting them out. She was brash and nosy, but Brian happened to like her.

He walked into the room and caught Beverly’s eye, before catching an apple that Margot threw at him. He tried to hide how hard it hit his hand, but was sure his face had twitched in pain. He had found out on his third day, after an extremely heated argument between Margot and Jack, that Margot’s mutation was super strength. After giving Jack a piece of her mind, she had promptly left the dinner table and torn the door clean off its hinges, letting it slam to the ground so she could stomp out.

An hour later he had found her sat in the doorway trying to work out how to fix it. She had spent five minutes insisting that she knew what she was doing until she allowed Brian to help. He hadn’t been much use, but together they had managed to get the door back where it should be, although Margot complained that Brian had made it wonky.

Brian grabbed some toast from the middle of the table and waited for the jam to get passed his way. Freddie was now sulking, flicking sparks at people when Alana wasn’t looking. She gave Brian a grin as he sat down.

He watched the room with a smile, Margot on his left was adjusting her eyeliner in a small mirror despite the fact she couldn’t have put it on more than half an hour ago. Beverly and Jimmy were arguing about a scientific theory Jimmy was reading in magazine. The younger children were throwing food and whining about Freddie, whilst smearing jam and spilling drinks all over the table. Will was running up and down trying to clean it all up, as Alana opened more boxes of cereal. Georgia, the quiet blonde who sometimes sat with Jimmy and Beverly was staring at Brian as she did every morning, making him feel uncomfortable.

Brian was about to ask Margot what Georgia’s mutation was when Jack came in, walking quickly and his shoulder held square.

“Everyone out if you’re under sixteen,” Jack said. The room quietened, all awaiting an explanation but none was given. “Out!” he barked at them. “Take your breakfast and eat it in front of the TV if you want.”

The younger children look at each other in delight, they were _never_ allowed to eat in the TV room. In a sudden rush to get the best seats they all scampered out, leaving only the adults and older students in the kitchen. Freddie Lounds included.

“Freddie, out,” Jack told her. He sat down at the head of the table, Alana and Will ranking him in the seats at his side.

“I’m six months away from being sixteen,” she said. “What’s going to change in six months?”

“You’ll be sixteen, you just said that,” Jimmy told her. Freddie scowled.

“Jack, I’ve been here since I was nine, that’s longer than anyone else which means _you’ve_ been teaching me for longer than anyone else! Why is Brian here? He’s only been here a week he can’t do anything,” she protested, and then looked over at Brian. “Sorry,” she said quickly. Brian shrugged, he just wanted to know what was going on.

“I think she should stay,” Margot said, setting Jack with her steady stare and solemn expression. “She’s more powerful than any of us.”

Freddie shot her a winning smile, which Margot returned.

“We can’t, Freddie, I’m sorry,” Alana shook her head. Then looked at Jack, her sympathy morphing into anger. “No, Jack, _no.”_

“We could let her train as part of the team, just see how she gets on,” Jack suggested. He cared about his students more than anything, he wanted to keep them safe that was the only point of opening this school. However, bigger things were at stake these days, and he was confident in Freddie’s abilities. Alana clenched her jaw, but didn’t argue. There was no point arguing with Jack.

“So what’s going on?” Beverly asked. In response he waved the morning paper at them, then opened it on the page he needed.

“They’ve announced a meeting. The president is holding a summit to discuss, amongst other things… the mutant _problem_ ,” the last word that emphasized with distaste. The rest of the table made various noises of annoyance at the word, hen carried on staring at him. “World leaders, all in one place,” Jack prompted. “Talking about mutants.”

Will was the first to click on. “You think that Hannibal’s going to try something?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t you?” Jack said. Will gave Alana an odd look, she met his eyes briefly before looking at the table.

“Yes,” he said simply. The students all looked around, trying to work out what they were meant to be doing. “What is that you’re proposing Jack, we take a group of minors to fight him face to face?”

“Let’s just take the fight to them _now_ ,” Jimmy said. “We all know that they’re evil and wants to bring doom and destruction on us all. Let’s just round them all up and shoot them.” He grinned a little at the end of his speech, his dramatics never failing to amuse the rest of the students.  Beverly hid her smile behind her hand, Margot raised an eyebrow, the corners of her lips twitching. Georgia kept her head down, as always. Only Freddie tried to look as though she was taking the meeting seriously.

“Abigail is still with them,” Alana said sharply. It wiped the amused expressions off of everyone’s faces. “Just remember that,” she said quietly.

“Abigail is _choosing_ to be with them,” Jack said. “And that’s not a discussion to have now,” he said eyeing Brian, who slumped back in his seat. He didn’t feel as though he was being included. Beverly nudged him with her foot under the table, making him look at her.

“I’ll explain later,” she said, muffling the sound of her speaking with her hand, but Brian heard and smiled in thanks. Jimmy narrowed his eyes at Beverly and then turned to the adults, sulking about the fact his best friend was making an effort with Brian.

“We’re going to be there,” Jack decisively. “At least, everyone here has the choice to be there. Freddie and Brian you will both be assessed over the next weeks to determine your suitability. Everyone else, I’ve seen enough.”

“I’m in,” Jimmy said instantly. “I know you’re still mad about the whole busting the asshole out of prison and you’re pretending that you’re punishing us for S.H.I.E.L.Ds sake, but I’m probably the most valuable asset to the team.”

“More like the most valuable _ass_ to the team,” Margot muttered to Brian.

“Me too,” Beverly joined him. “We’ve trained as a team so we should all be there.”  

“I’m not going to miss a chance to pick a fight those fuckers,” Margot said. “I’m in.”

“Are you sure, Margot?” Alana asked. “Last time we met with them your brother-”

“My brother is the biggest fucker of them all. I’m over it and I’m in,” her face was unchanging as she spoke the words, Brian couldn’t tell whether she was lying or not. Her perfectly made up face never giving her away. He thought it was an admirable skill to have accomplished.

“I won’t be able to do anything,” Brian said as all eyes in the room fell on him. “I can barely run three laps of the grounds with my chest burning up. I don’t know how to fight anyone and I _don’t_ want to kill anyone.”

“How noble of you,” Jimmy said. The rest of the table chose to ignore him but Brian could feeling his cheeks burning. The idea of making an effort with Jimmy seeped away and was replaced, once again, with anger.

“You have a month to learn basic combat,” Jack said. “Train with us, and if by the time the day comes you don’t want to join us, we won’t make you. At least consider going so you can hang back and step in if someone needs you.”

“You’re asking me to kill for you,” Brian said. He thought about the first conversation he’d had with Jack here in the kitchen, trying to amplify the words he’d said. _I’m not a weapon._ He knew that Jack could hear him by the expression on his face.

“You could at least give it a go Brian, for yourself. For the fact that we’re fighting for peace,” Margot said, Beverly nodded in agreement.

“I won’t go,” Georgia said, taking the heat off Brian. “I can’t.”

This didn’t appear to be a surprise to anyone.

“Can I leave?” she asked. Jack looked like he wanted to make her say, but Alana and Will had both already nodded at her. She stood up and looked at the ground as she left, Will giving her arm and friendly pat as she walked past.

“Brian?” Beverly said, she sounded hopeful. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

“I’ll train with you,” he said, although he didn’t try to sound pleased about it. “Happy?” he asked Jack.

“Not particularly, but it’ll do for now.”

The group looked around in silence before Jack stood up.  “I’ll see you all later today in the simulation hall,” he told them.

When Alana and Will had also left, the students agreeing to clean up the breakfast things themselves, Brian started asking questions.

“What’s the deal with this Abigail?” he said, moving down the table stacking everyone’s plates up. Beverly was screwing the lid back onto a jar of chocolate spread, and was the first to answer.

“She used to be a student here, she was one of the first that Jack found,” she told him. Freddie laughed, drawing looks from the other students. “Don’t,” Beverly sighed at her, but the words were already spilling out of Freddie’s mouth, obviously dying to tell the story to someone new.

“Jack acts like he’s squeaky clean, but he used to be friends with Hannibal – Will and Alana too,” she said. Beverly rolling her eyes to herself. Brain put the stack of plates next to the sink where Jimmy was running water, then began collecting glasses. Freddie pulled herself up onto the counter, deciding that it was more important to offer an explanation than help the rest of them.

“They found Abigail after her Father went on some mutant killing spree, he was a weirdo. Anyway, before long Jack and Hannibal realised they had opposite approaches to dealing with the way that mutants are treated. Jack wanted peace and Hannibal just wanted to kill everyone. Jack set up this school with Will and Alana. Obviously they took Abigail with them as any responsible adults would,” she paused, having gained the attention of the whole group who had stopped tidying to listen, despite the fact they knew what happened.

“She was like my sister,” she continued, her smile fading momentarily. “Then one day Hannibal turned up wanting to see her, and Jack let him. He hadn’t done anything overly crazy at that point,” she added the last sentence quickly when she saw Brian’s confusion. “I think Jack still considered him a friend.”

She fell quiet then, and Margot picked up the rest of the story. “I used to share a room with her, and one morning I woke up and she was gone. She just left. Hannibal sent us a letter to say he was taking care of her now and Jack couldn’t find them for months.”

“By the time we did,” Jimmy said, throwing a tea towel at Beverly to get her to dry the dishes. “She didn’t want to come back.”

The teenagers fell quiet, all lost in thought. All of them had known Abigail. Brian bowed his head and started wiping the table, unable to share the moment with them, and instead wondered if anyone would miss him if he disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

Brian had decided that he hated combat training before his first session was half way through.  Everyone was better than him at everything; offence, defence, their general fitness, and their ability to second guess each other’s movements. Their mutations also provided each of them with a significant advantage; Beverly could miss anything that tried to attack her by simply making it pass through her. Jimmy could heal himself if he did get attacked. Margot could throw things that no human should be able to pick up, and Freddie Lounds had such precision and force behind her attacks there was no doubt that she should be fighting alongside them.

Alana was more powerful than Brian had realised. During her day to day activities she only used her mutation, telekinesis, to perform mundane tasks like handing textbooks out quickly. In training she could move people and objects of all sizes with only a thought.

Brian noticed that Jack only stepped in with his telepathy when it was absolutely necessary. He assumed it was because he was taking a back seat to let the student’s own mutations develop. Will behaved in the same way, his similar mutation, the ability to sense and manipulate emotions, would be useful in a fight. However, when Brian learnt what they were up against it became clear why Will and Jack needed to let the students be the front line. 

“Hannibal’s mutation is mimicry,” Jack told him. They were sitting in a huge simulation hall drinking from bottles of water. During training the computer made the room look and feel like a potential dangerous situation, where they had to work together to overcome all kinds of obstacles, most of which they agreed were ridiculous and never going to happen. Brian’s personal favourite had be a skyscraper tall killer robot.  

“He just sits around doing impressions of us all,” Jimmy said making the others laugh.

“ _Mutation_ mimicry,” Jack corrected, not cracking a smile with the rest of them. “If I try and control his mind he can mimic my power. The same with Will, if Will tries to make him calm down Hannibal will then be able to use that mutation for the opposite purpose. We never go directly for Hannibal, it just puts everyone in danger. We’re not looking for a fight we’re just looking for protection.”

“Why don’t we just warn them not to hold the meeting?” Brian pointed out.

“It will just make them panic, remember we want to show them that mutants are not a threat. Not all of us, anyway,” Jack said. Brian tried to hide the fact he rolled his eyes, finding their attitudes annoying. There was no need for any of this.

“What about the rest of them, you haven’t told me anything,” Brian said.

“I thought you didn’t want in on the actual standing up for what’s right part?” Jimmy said. Beverly kicked him the shin. Jack ignored him.

“His right hand woman is a mutant called Bedelia Du Maurier, her mutation is the creation and manipulation of ice,” Jack continued.

Jimmy muttered something about her being cold hearted, making Beverly snort.  

“Randall Teir is a shape shifter – he can turn into a bear. Apparently he spends more and more time in his animal form now,” Jack said, purposely pausing so that Jimmy could insert a comment without interrupting him.

“I’ve got nothing,” Jimmy shrugged, making Jack smile for the first time that day. Brian couldn’t help but feel irritated about the other student’s constant need for attention and the way no one ever told him to shut up.

“Tobias Budge can generate sonic attacks, he screams and he will burst your eardrums if he wants to, or shatter glass.”

“And he’s a sadistic bastard,” Jimmy’s crinkled his nose and touched his ear, glad that he was one of the few people who could recover from one of Tobias’ nasty moments. Even though there was now nothing wrong with his ear, the memory of the pain Tobias caused him during their last meeting made him cringe.

“Next is Mason,” Margot piped up. She had been hovering on the edge of the conversation, and now Jack was looking at her wearily. “My brother.”

Brian hadn’t asked about Margot’s brother since their first conversation and had just assumed there was some bad blood between them. He had underestimated the extent of it as she explained the situation.

“His mutation is size enhancement, he can make himself grow to the size of a house,” she said. “The positive side is I’m still stronger than him, but of course if he gets to any of you he would probably just step on you like you’re an ant.”

Brian was turning paler by the second.

“And Abigail,” Alana said. Will looked across at her and the group shared an uncomfortable silence. “She has retractable claws from her knuckles. They’re made of bone but I believe since being with Hannibal she has undergone an operation to coat them in adamantium **(HI YES HELLO DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN WHAT ADAMANTIUM IS??)**. She is dangerous. She is an extremely skilled fighter and also possesses a healing factor, although it’s not as strong as Jimmy’s.”

“Right,” Brian said. “That doesn’t make me feel any better”

“Just remember that it would be much easier for you to kill them because of your mutation, you could just walk in there touch them all and our problem would be sorted,” Jimmy pointed out. The anger Brian felt towards him erupted in his chest. It took every ounce of control he had not to punch him.

“You have _no idea_ what you’re talking about,” he said to Jimmy, the words coming through gritted teeth. He stormed out of the training hall and no one went after him.

“You know when you’re younger and people tell you boys are mean to people they have crushes on,” Margot said to Beverly, who laughed as she guessed where the comment was heading. “I never thought it was true until now.”

“I do _not_ have a crush on Brian Zeller,” Jimmy said, crumpling his water bottle up and throwing it across the room, earning himself a disapproving look from the adults. Brian Zeller was a lot of things; overdramatic, moody, annoying, _infuriating_. What he _wasn’t_ , was someone Jimmy Price could ever have a crush on. He crossed the room and picked up the water bottle, then left, still glowering.

Three week later and Brian was still adamant about the fact he would not be joining them in preventing Hannibal Lecter harm potential plans. He still went to training every day, he got fitter and found himself working easier as a member of a team rather than a single mind. Jack spent a few hours a week with him trying to help him control his mutation, but there was no luck. Beverly had worked hard in the lab studying blood samples and some plants that Brian had grudgingly killed for her, trying to determine how it was Brian killed things, but thus far had nothing to show for it.

A couple of days before they were planned to position themselves as mutation protection force against Hannibal, Beverly and Brian were sat in the library. It was one of the biggest rooms in the house, taking up the majority of the second floor, and decorated exactly how the perfect library should be – tall shelves, old books, and long desks for studying at. The work ethic in the school was high, and there was nearly always someone in there.

“Are you really not going to come?” she asked him, looking up from her book and putting her pen down on the paper she was writing on. He looked up at her through his eyelashes, without moving his head.

“What use am I going to be?” Brain asked.

“It would just be nice knowing there’s one more person who’s got our back, have you honestly hated training that much? Because it doesn’t seem like it to me,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear and looking at him with hope. She pursed her lips then said, “It would be nice knowing you’ve got _my_ back.”

“You broke into a prison to get me out and you want to know _I’ve_ got _your_ back?” Brian asked, remembering the journey back to the school when Beverly and Jimmy had been on top of the world having found the whole situation enjoyable. 

“That’s because it was fun,” Beverly laughed, although it was tinted with nerves. “Hannibal Lecter scares the shit out of me, Bri, and that goes for all of us.”

“I wouldn’t be any help if he does turn up,” Brian said.

“Are you for real?” Beverly said. “You’re fitting in with us so well, you’re working as a team and you’re getting stronger. You can keep up with us at least,” she smiled. “Just think about it.”

“I don’t want to kill people, Bev.”

“I’m not asking you to kill anyone, I’m asking to help make sure none of us get killed,” she replied. They met each other’s gaze until Brian sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Okay,” he said. Beverly’s eyes widened. “Fine, I’m in.”

After they finished studying Brian went to tell Jack about his change in heart. The head teacher announced it to the rest of the group at the training session that afternoon, and the news was greeted with enthusiasm for everyone apart from Jimmy.

“He will be a liability,” he had said. “He’s not been with us for long enough.”

No one had taken him seriously, least of all Brian who was just as determined to annoy Jimmy as Jimmy was to annoy him. It had become a vicious cycle of snide comments and insults from the both of them and it was driving the rest of the group crazy. Jack snapped at them on more than one occasion to be nice or to ignore each other, but was an impossible feat.  

Then the day came that they had been waiting for. The night before, Jack had sat them down and given them the plan in detail, and now they awaited their command to leave the school, everyone jumpy and no conversation flowing. Brian worse than the rest of them, withdrawing in as he had done to begin with, grunting one word answers and forming elaborate plans to get out of going.

It was revealed that underneath the basketball courts in the garden, the school housed high tech jet which everyone kept referring to as ‘The Blackbird’ much to Brian’s amusement, and whilst they were away the school would be kept in order by a mutant called Bella Crawford – Jack’s wife. Brian had met her briefly before, but she was never at the school for long due to her tireless efforts of working as a mutant inside the government.

It was simple, on the face of it, Jack’s telepathy was a free pass to anywhere. When they arrived at the high security building, they waltzed right in. Jack and Will positioned themselves close to the meeting room. They wanted to keep the world leaders from panicking and didn’t want to be close enough to Hannibal Lecter that they would use their mutation against him in fear of mimicry.

The rest of the group paired up, Beverly and Jimmy, Freddie and Alana, Brian and Margot, and controlled the perimeter. It didn’t take long for Jack’s theory to prove correct. The groups met in the middle. Brian nervously eyed the security guards that were on patrol, but thanks to Jack’s influence they were nowhere nearby and were probably having their minds manipulated to believe that there was nothing out of the ordinary going on.

“Alana,” the man in front said. Brian could only assume this was Hannibal Lecter as he’d never seen his face. The way he spoke gave them all chills. He didn’t look angry or vicious, he looked out of place in his suit and tie. He looked he was ready to go out to dinner at a classy restaurant.

“Hannibal,” Alana replied, confirming Brian’s theory. She took a step in front of the students.

“I thought I may find you here. Are you well?”

“Yes, thank you,” she replied, keeping her sentences short. She looked at the girl standing next to Hannibal, poised in a stance ready to fight. “Hello, Abigail,” she said.

“Hello,” the girl replied stiffly. She was standing close to Hannibal, looking at Alana and the rest of the students as though they were animals she needed to hunt. She studied each face, and then looked towards the building behind them, guessing that’s where Will and Jack were. Brian found it disconcerting how young she was.  

“Sister,” a man said, staring at Margot. This had to be the infamous Mason Verger.

Margot wasn’t one for feigning politeness. “Don’t fucking talk to me,” she spat. Freddie touched her hand slightly, not noticed by anyone else.

“Who is your new friend?” Hannibal asked, looking at Brian. The group shuffled closer, subconsciously trying to protect each other. All eyes were now on Brian. “What’s your name?”

“Brian Zeller,” he replied.

“What is your mutation, Brian Zeller?”

Brian looked around for help.

“You really don’t want to know,” Jimmy piped up. Brian threw him a confused glance, envying how Jimmy could stay sharp under pressure, he was putting up the perfect façade of nonchalance. He glanced at Brian after he spoke, their eyes meeting in fleeting second before he looked away again.

“Nice to see you again, Jimmy,” Hannibal said.

“I wish I could say the same,” Jimmy grinned back. Brian almost laughed, and Beverly certainly did.

“We are not here to fight,” Hannibal said, his attention turning back to Alana. “I want to see Will Graham.”

“You’re not getting anywhere near my husband, Hannibal, you’ll have to kill me first,” she said. “Now leave.”

“That’s not possible I’m afraid,” he said. Both groups tensed up, muscles flexing and eyes focussed. Each student had been given their own plan. They knew who to attack in which order if it came to that, they each knew to position them self so they were nearby someone who could support them.

“Leave,” Alana warned him again. Then the situation erupted. Before Brian could work out what was going on, they were suddenly confronted with a huge bear, their ears ringing from its growl. Freddie created a ball of fire which she threw in its direction, but missed.

“Stay,” Alana barked at them. With the flick of her hand she brought a tree crashing down, scattering Hannibal’s group, then ran after the bear, hoping that Jack had an eye what was going on.

Freddie set the tree on fire, making those closest to it jump back in fear, and Margot was already on her brother. The strength of her hold not allowing him to grow, her hands strangling him until he passed out. In the confusion Hannibal had left, Brian noticed he was heading towards the building but could only hope those inside could handle it. He was here for one thing, to protect his friends.

Freddie was engaging with a tall blonde woman, the ice erupting from her hands and being pushed back by the heat of Freddie’s flames, gave her away as Bedelia Du Maurier. Beverly was missing various attacks from Tobias, the sound waves not effecting her in her intangible state. She had moved him out of line with the rest of them so that they were in less danger. Jimmy was in one to one combat with Abigail, and Brian watched in amazement. He had seen Jimmy fight in practise, but not like this. The speed and precision with which he moved was mesmerising, ducking and weaving around Abigail’s attacks making it look like a dance. 

As agreed, Brian hung back until he was needed. When he _was_ needed, it was in a way he hoped it wouldn’t have to be.

The bear, Randall Teir, came back out of the building. Brian immediately checked it for any signs of combat, and took the fact its muzzle wasn’t covered in blood as a good sign. Jimmy and Abigail were the closet to it, the two of them now circling each other, too good of a match to make a real damage to the other person. Brian watched the bear in horror, ready to launch himself at the animal if need be. He didn’t know where the urge to fight had come from, but now he wanted it. He could feel blood pumping and each of senses was heighten as he watched.

His heart stopped at the great beast made a move for Jimmy. Brian ran, every cell in his body giving as much output as possible. Unlike the training sessions, he couldn’t feel his muscles screaming at him to stop. He pulled the glove of his right hand off, then reached for the bear as it was in mid-air, its teeth gleaming and claws outstretched. His hand met with the fur, his fingers curling round and grabbing it, sinking down until they touched its skin.

Then it fell to the floor, and everyone stopped.

Abigail moved away from Brian.

“What did you do?” she asked him. Brian didn’t get to answer. He hadn’t noticed Hannibal re-join them, the rest of them regrouped behind him, and the students behind Brian. There was no sign of Alana or the adults.

“We are leaving,” he said. Nobody argued with him, and the students didn’t see what they could do to stop him. So they let him pass. Brian was in shock, his hands shaking. He had dropped his glove on the floor beside him.

Jimmy placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him round so they were standing face to face.

“You saved me,” he said, Brian tried to shake himself out of his stupor.

“You don’t need saving you’ve got the…the healing thing,” he said, looking around for someone to tell him what to do. Jimmy gave a breathy laugh, his actions catching up with him as he also began to shake. He hadn’t been feeling as calm as he’d appeared.

“I’ve never had my throat ripped out by a bear, and I don’t _want_ to know if I can survive that or not,” he replied. Another few seconds of both trying to catch their breath, their legs like jelly and their stomachs twisting. Brian grabbed hold of Jimmy’s shoulder to keep him upright, they held each other up.

“Steady there, princess,” Jimmy said. Brian laughed.

“You’re the princess now, who just saved your ass?” he replied, Jimmy grinned.

“You know, if we go by fairy tale rules when the valiant knight rescues the-”

“Shut up,” Brian cut him off. “I’m not kissing you.”

They smiled at each other, for the first time since they’d met there was no bickering. Then Brian jumped back, realising his un-gloved fingers were brushing against the skin of Jimmy’s neck. He felt like his heart had stopped beating, and he held his hands out in front of him like he didn’t know what to do with them. Jimmy pulled a face at him, then realised what Brian was reacting to and touched his neck.

“You’re not dead,” Brian said. Anything else he wanted to say couldn’t come out, the words just got caught in his throat as he willed the tears brimming his eyes to stop where they were. Jimmy looked as amazed as Brian did.

“You can touch me,” Jimmy said. He stepped forward and grabbed Brian’s hand putting it against his own cheek. Brian’s hand was rigid, but then moulded to the shape of Jimmy’s face as absolutely nothing happened. He was now completely unaware of their audience, there was nothing in the world apart from Jimmy Price. He raised his other hand and held Jimmy’s face in both. Still nothing happened, he was alive.

Jimmy was as numb to the world as Brian was, not quite able to believe that the sullen, moody mutant they had rescued weeks ago was looking so happy at the feel of warm skin against his own. He rested his forehead against Brian’s, not hearing the ‘aw’ emitted by the group, as they clutched at each other.

They came back to reality with Jack’s voice yelling at them to move. They looked up, hands interlaced and their eyes resting on the three adults – _no_ , two adults and a body hovering eerily in the air.

Alana and Jack were both covered in blood, behind Alana and in her control, was the body of Will Graham. The group stared in shock.

“No,” Beverly whispered. She stepped forward, trying to reach them and then stopped, not knowing what she was meant to do.

“GO!” Jack yelled at them again.

No one moved.

“Will?” Margot said, only those standing closest to her could hear her.

As Alana drew closer they would see blood and tears mingled on her face, her expression now stoic. She looked straight through her students as Jack ushered them once again to move on. Will’s body looked horrific as it passed them. Floating in the air alongside his wife, his guts slashed open.

“How?” was the only word that Brian could speak. His mind reeling with the implications. Alana replied with the only two words they could get out of her for the coming days.

“Hannibal Lecter.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Does it hurt?” Brian asked, running his finger tip along the back of Jimmy’s hand. Being able to touch someone without them dropping dead still wasn’t normal to him, and he often forgot that around Jimmy he no longer needed to be careful.

“Nope,” Jimmy said. They were sitting on Brian’s bed, facing each other with their legs crossed. They both should have been in asleep by now, but with the chaos the house was presently in they had no time to spend with each other during the day. This afternoon had been especially difficult as they had attended Will Graham’s funeral. The whole school had been hit hard by the loss, but the students who had been there for years, who had seen Will has a friend, a teacher, and a role model, were naturally devastated. Beverly had come to the breakfast table on more than one occasion with puffy red eyes, and even Margot, not prone to showing any emotion other than disdain, had been more compliant and gentle towards everyone.

Alana had hidden herself away for a week afterwards, and then one morning appeared, putting on a smile and acting like she was okay. When she was alone with the older students, the ones who had been there, her demeanour faded. Brian hadn’t been there long, but he’d been there long enough to know how in love Alana and Will had been. He figured there was a lot of history that they’d overcome, and they should be together.

“I can feel it,” Jimmy said, Brian stopped daydreaming and looked over at him. “If you touch me when I’m not thinking about it, it kind of tingles. If it hurt me there’s no way I’d let you anywhere near me, don’t worry.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Brian said. He was wearing a grey t-shirt which clung to his newly forming muscles. Jimmy kept staring at his biceps and chest, never being subtle about it. “Take a picture it will last longer,” Brian teased, bumping his fist against Jimmy’s shoulder. Jimmy grinned, as always, not embarrassed.

“You know, I still think you’re an asshole,” he said. Brian raised his eyebrows.

“That’s rich, coming from you. You’re the biggest jackass here,” he retaliated. “Just because I can touch you, it doesn’t mean I _like_ you.”

“Good, because I don’t like you either,” Jimmy said, they stared at each other until they both started laughing. These late night conversations were still strange, both of them feeling like they should be sad about Will, sad for Alana. But there was enough of that during the day, after everyone else went to bed it was nice to be able to smile and laugh without feeling guilty. They had ended up kissing more than once, but never said anything about it. It didn’t seem right with everything else that was going on, so they had agreed to keep it to themselves for now.  

They both looked up when there was a soft knock at the door. Brian called for whoever it was to come in, the two boys giving Margot a friendly smile as she came in a sat down between them.

“I thought I could hear you two lovebirds,” she muttered. It was strange to see her like this, wearing a baggy t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, her face clear of makeup. Brian still thought she was incredibly pretty.

“We’re not…” Brian said, trailing off when he saw Margot’s incredulous expression.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” she said. Jimmy was looking pleased with himself.

“What’s up?” Brian asked.

“Georgia is driving me mad,” she said. “Her dreams have got worse ever since Will died and I know I should feel bad for her, but I need to sleep.”

“What’s Georgia’s mutation?” Brain asked. She was one of the only students that still refused to talk to him, even though the younger ones had been scared of him at first, most of them now would at least say hello. Helped by the fact he had taken to teaching some of them mathematics to help pick up the slack from Will classes.

“She’s a medium,” Margot sighed. She got up from the bed and pulled the cover back on the spare one, climbing into it and pulling the blankets up around her, laying so that she was still facing Jimmy and Brian. “She can communicate with the dead, or the dead communicate with her as she hates it and refuses to use it.”

Brian let the information sink in.

“That’s why she won’t come near me,” he realised. “Can she hear all the people I’ve killed when she’s near me? Why did no one tell me?”

“Fucking hell, Bri,” Margot rolled her eyes. “Way to go and make it all about you.”

“How many people _have_ you killed?” Jimmy asked.

“I’m not… _guys_ …” he spluttered. “I don’t want to talk about it” he settled on. He tried to pull his hoodie down over his hands before remember he didn’t have it on.

“Do you think it’s Will?” Jimmy asked Margot. “In Georgia’s dreams, you think that’s what’s making them so bad?”

“I do not care,” Margot said. “Whatever it is she mutters all night and whenever I wake her up she complains that I’ll make her tired.”

“That seems kind of harsh,” Brian said. “Maybe she just needs to talk about it.”

“Trust me, I’ve tried,” Margot replied, then yawned. “Okay lights out boys, I’m so tired. You know what I’ve got to do tomorrow? I’ve got to supervise English lessons,” she groaned.

“Are you staying in here?” Brian asked.

“I am, so no snoring and please don’t fuck while I’m in here.”

“We’re not-”

“ _Shut up, I’m sleeping.”_

Jimmy rolled his eyes but stood up, pulling Brian with him. Just outside the bedroom door he pulled Brian in for a kiss, he had to stand on his tiptoes to be level with Brian, but as soon as Brian slipped a an arm round his waist and pulled him in close, it was worth it as their lips moved softly against each other.

“Night,” Jimmy grinned as he pulled back sooner than Brian would have liked. He tried to pull Jimmy back in, but only managed to press another kiss onto Jimmy’s cheek. “Just for the record, I don’t care how many people you’ve killed,” Jimmy said as he twisted round Brian’s arm, ignoring the fact that Brian’s content smile had now turned into a scowl.

“Randall Teir is the only person I’ve ever killed on purpose,” Brian replied. “And it’s not something to laugh about.”

“Night, Brian,” Jimmy replied in a singsong voice. Brian Zeller was the easiest person in the world to annoy. He did feel bad, he knew that the last few years for Brian had been terrible, but he was a firm believer in putting the past behind you and moving on. He was living proof that life got better.

“Night, Jimmy,” Brian said, cursing himself for letting Jimmy wind him up again. He went back into his bedroom, turning off the light so that Margot didn’t start complaining. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t open them as Brian got into his own bed, hoping that this wasn’t going to be a permanent arrangement.  

“He really likes you,” Margot said, Brian turned over to face her, but she still had her eyes closed. “He liked you from the start.”

“Shut up, I’m trying to sleep,” Brian said, burying his face into his pillow to hide his smile even though it was dark. Margot opened one eye in time to see him grin to himself, and for once kept her mouth shut.

The next morning Brian clattered around as loud as he could, pulling an innocent face when Margot sat up giving him a stony look.

“What?” he asked, then ducked, missing a pillow flying towards his face and took himself off for a shower, hoping Margot would be gone by the time he got back. He found her again at the breakfast table, sitting in her usual corner filling the room with smell of nail polish. The people closest to her were crinkling their noses, but no one said anything.

Beverly and Jimmy came and sat opposite him and together they waited for the fighting over whose cereal was whose to die down so they could grab something to eat. With Will gone, they were all being roped in to keep an eye on the younger students, Jack was taking more classes and even though everyone protested against it, so was Alana.

“You okay, Bev?” Brian asked.

“Yeah, look Bri, I’m sorry I haven’t done anything more with your samples I’ve been a bit off my game…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s not your priority right now, it’s fine,” he assured her. She gave him a thankful smile.

“Where are Jack and Alana this morning?” she asked. They were usually both in here by now, checking everyone was set up for the day. However it seemed at this morning they were being left to their own devises.

“No Georgia either,” Margot said, looking at Brian and Jimmy then biting her lip. “I’m going to check our room.” She screwed the lid of her nail polish on and blew on her nails before standing up.

“What’s wrong with Georgia?” Beverly asked.

“She’s having trouble with dreams again,” Jimmy said. “Margot slept in Brian’s room last night,” he grinned waggling his eyebrows up and down. Beverly looked between the both of them, her mouth half open in surprise.

“Is there something going on between you and Margot? Because I thought that you two were, you know, doing your thing,” she said pointing between the two boys and leaning across the table to keep the conversation between the three of them.

“ _No_ ,” Brian said.

“Sure?”

“Yes! It was just because Georgia was keeping her awake, she didn’t give me a choice she just got into the other bed and fell asleep.” Beverly laughed, then grabbed a box of cereal that had finally arrived at their end of the table. Freddie then joined them, taking what had been Margot’s seat.

“What are you talking about?” she asked them.

“The fact Jim and Bri are now a thing,” Beverly told her. Freddie’s hair bounced around her shoulders as her head moved looking between the three of them, trying to work out if Beverly was being serious.

“That’s gross,” she said eventually. “I thought you were just happy he wasn’t dead I didn’t realise you were into each other.”

Beverly stifled a laugh as Brian turned beetroot red. Jimmy, as always, not reacting with anything but mild amusement apparently not put off by Freddie’s words at all. Brian wanted to argue, or to at least say something to make Freddie squirm, but he knew better. Like Jimmy she seemed to have grown up with an inability to feel shame and so more often than not it was her making other people feel uncomfortable, not the other way around.

“No making out in public,” she warned them. “Or…” she snapped her fingers, creating a flame and then waved it around in the air, bringing it worryingly close to Brian’s eyebrows.

“You wouldn’t set me on fire,” Jimmy protested. She smiled at him.

“No but I would burn your precious books,” she said. Before he could argue with her, Margot re-joined them by poking her head around the door until she caught Freddie’s attention, who waved. Margot beckoned at them with her hand, the group exchanged a glance and then joined her outside the kitchen, leaving the door open so that the younger children weren’t left to their own devices.

“It’s Georgia,” she said, “She’s saying it’s Will.”

Beverly’s face fell as Margot spoke, they huddled closer together and kept their voices low.

“Her dreams?” Jimmy asked. Margot nodded, she looked worried which was strange for Margot, and it made the rest of them feel uneasy. “Are Jack and Alana with her?”

“Yeah, yeah. She won’t say anything else though, apart from _Will_ and _they’re coming,”_ she took a breath, and Freddie put a hand on her arm. “She’s so pale.”

“What do you mean, _they’re coming_?” Jimmy asked.

“I don’t know,” she snapped at him. “I told you that’s all she’s saying.”

“What’s should we do?” Freddie said. The answer that came to everyone’s minds was to go and find out exactly what was happening, whether that meant ambushing Jack or snooping around. It was Beverly who took initiative.

“We do nothing, if they need us they’ll tell us,” she said. It wasn’t the answer that any of them had been expecting from her. “Look guys, Jim and I can’t get in trouble again. Jack was lenient with us last time, but now with everything going on it would just be rude of us to take advantage again.”

“We both know that secretly Jack _wanted_ us to-”

“Jim, we’re keeping our noses out of this one,” Bev warned him.

The group each looked at their feet or around the hallway, then at Beverly and then at each other. She was right, no matter how much they wanted something more exciting to happen, they needed to prove they were trustworthy.

The bell on the front door rang, and being the closest Brian hurried down the corridor to open it, revealing the expectant faces of Agents Lass and Chilton.

“Hello, Brian,” Lass greeted, peering past him to the huddle of teenagers. Brian opened the door to allow them in, Chilton adjusting his tie and Miriam putting a hand up to his friends who all ushered each other back into the kitchen. “What are they up to?”

“Nothing,” Brian said, then wished he could kick himself, he couldn’t have sounded more suspicious if he’d tried. He didn’t look at Agent Lass until they were in Jack’s office. Brian would have lead them somewhere else but didn’t want them to think there was anything wrong. Luckily with Jack’s mutation if he tried to bring Georgia in here, he’d know.

“How had your week been?” Chilton asked sitting in Jack’s chair behind the desk. Brian nodded as he and Lass sat in the chair in front.

“Good.”

He liked to keep his answers short for a number of reasons. Firstly, even though he quite liked Agent Lass, Agent Chilton irritated him. Everything he said seemed to be perfectly calculated to annoy Brian in small ways, but they all added up until Brian was gritting his teeth to stop himself saying something he’d regret. Secondly, he got the feeling that Jack wanted as little involvement from S.H.I.E.LD as possible.

After the attack at the political summit, all the humans had their memories manipulated by Jack so that they forget anything strange had happened. However, Jack couldn’t hide the fact that Will Graham or Randall Tier was dead, do released a story that Will went after Randall on his own. Brian personally thought it was a poor cover story seeing as Randall would show no sign of injury. It was a good thing that it didn’t matter, Jack could make anyone believe anything.

“How are your lessons going?” Lass asked. Brian nodded.

“Good,” he said again. Miriam smiled and leant forward towards him.

“Are you ever going to say more than that?”

“There’s not anything else to say,” Brian said. “I go to lessons, I try control my mutation in sessions with Jack which never works, I supervise some classes, I eat, and I sleep.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t tell us if you were doing anything other than that,” Chilton pointed out. His was resting his elbows on the table, pressing the tips of his fingers together, his face plastered with his smarmy smile.

“What would I be doing apart from that?” Brian asked, keeping his face straight.

“You tell me,” Chilton replied.

“I’m not doing anything,” Brian said. Chilton looked like he was ready to argue with the teenager, but Lass put her metal hand up to silence him.

“Thank you, Brian,” she said, standing up. Brian folded his arms and looked at the other agent. After a moment of staring at each other, Chilton also stood up. “See you next week,” she said. Brian stood up and followed them out, making sure they didn’t start sneaking around.

Everyone had left the kitchen, and since he had a free morning he went and joined Beverly in her biology class, she was teaching at a level far beyond Brian’s current understanding, although considering how much he had to catch up with he felt like he was making good progress.

He didn’t see Jack, Alana, or Georgia until the evening, when Alana and Jack finally showed up to help cook and eat with the students. They didn’t say much or mention Georgia, and Brian could tell that Alana had been crying.

Brian waited until the meal was over until he spoke to Jack, catching him as he left the room. Jack ushered him up to the office where he sat in the same chair he’d been in earlier, the head teacher opposite him rearranging some papers on his desk while Brian collected his thoughts and worked out how to say what he needed to say.

“I think S.H.I.E.L.D are trying to poke around in the school,” Brian said. “When they came to see me today Chilton seemed more nosy than usual and seemed to think that I was hiding something from him.”

Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Well I can’t say that I wasn’t expecting it, I’m just surprised it didn’t happened earlier. Unfortunately they wouldn’t have let me keep you here if I didn’t let them see you. What exactly did he ask?”

Brian recounted the short conversation that he’d had with the agents. Jack nodded every few sentences.

“It’s only natural after what happened to Will,” Jack said. “But the last thing we need at the moment is the government sniffing around.”

“I’ll tell you everything they say to me next week,” Brian promised, but didn’t know what he could do beyond that.

“Okay, thank you Brian,” Jack said, not making any further requests. Brian stood up, about the leave the room, then turned round again, unable to resist. Jack looked up at him. “Are you going to ask me about Georgia?”

Brian considered lying, but then remembered that there was no point. “We’re worried about her,” he said.

“Margot should have stayed with her last night,” Jack said, giving Brian a knowing look. Of course Jack knew everything that went on around here. Brian shuffled his feet around, not looking Jack in the eye.

“She thinks she’s had a warning about Hannibal’s future plans,” Jack told him. Brian looked up, not expecting to have been told anything. “She thinks that she’s been warned,” he sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “ _By Will_ , that Hannibal plans to attack the school.”

“What?” Brian asked. “When? How?”

“I don’t know,” Jack said, shaking his head. “I need Georgia to work with me, to concentrate on this, but naturally it scares her.”

Brian nodded, then sat down in the seat again. Jack watched him, for once Brian wished he would just read his mind, but he said nothing nor indicated that had. His hands fidgeted in his lap as Jack started reading a folder lying in front of him, never pressing the student, know that he say what he needed to when he was ready.

“Has it crossed your mind that I could kill him?” Brian blurted out, the words rushed and nervous. “Hannibal, I mean. I could kill him.”

Jack studied him for a minute, closing the folder.

“You would die as well,” he replied. “You know he wouldn’t just let you kill him, as soon as he touched him he would be touching you, with your mutation.”

Brian nodded. “I know, I was just asking if it had crossed your mind.”

Jack tilted his head to the side, never taking his eyes away from Brian.

“What happened to not being a weapon?”

“A weapon doesn’t choose to fire itself,” Brian replied. “Other people have to use a weapon for it to be dangerous.” He gave an irritated huff, feeling like he wasn’t getting his point across. “When I said that I just meant I didn’t want you to only use me for my mutation, and that’s beside the point anyway,” Brian said. Jack nodded again.

“It’s crossed my mind,” Jack said, sitting back. “But I would never condone you doing it. Your safety is my number one priority.”

Brian heard the words, but his stomach sunk when the tone didn’t match. Jack didn’t sound sincere.

“Okay,” Brian nodded, standing up and deciding he couldn’t get out of the office quick enough. “That’s all.”

He was walking back to his room, when he stopped at Beverly’s door and knocked three times.

“There you are,” she said, opening the door and letting him in. She had one shoe on, and was halfway through slipping the foot into the other one. She looked like she was ready to go out, wearing her coat, hat and scarf.

“Where are you off to?” Brian asked.

“Go get ready and you’ll have to come and find out, wrap up warm then meet us on the lawn in ten minutes,” she told him, pushing him back out the door. “Go, go, go,” she ushered him. Brian watched as she walked down the hall then, in a rush to find out what was going on, went back to his own room and donned similar clothing.

The house was empty as he walked back through, he closed the kitchen door behind him then smiled at the sight. The students had a bonfire going, courtesy of Freddie who was entertaining the group by drawing pictures in the air using her finger like a sparkler.

Beverly waved Brian over. Jimmy was helping one of the girls with her scarf, wrapping it gently round her, and Margot was helping the other students toast marshmallows, and one of the younger students, called Peter, whose mutation was the ability to communicate with animals, was holding a wild rabbit close to him for the other children to fawn over.

“What’s all this?” Brian asked Beverly when he reached them.

“Everyone’s been a bit bummed out recently, thought it would be nice for us to take our minds off things and have some fun,” Beverly explained. “We’ve got tonnes of food and we’re going to take it turns to go and make hot chocolate in the kitchen and Alana has okayed it.”

“Looks great,” Brian smiled.

“Well look who turned up,” Jimmy called over the fire to him.

“Would have been nice if someone had told me,” Brian replied, making his way over and taking the spot next to Jimmy. To his surprise, Jimmy leant over and kissed him the younger students immediately beginning to giggle and whisper.

“I thought we weren’t… you know,” Brain mutter, not able to look at anyone so picked a spot on the ground next to him to look at.

“Yeah but everyone knows anyway and I wanted to kiss you,” he replied, for once keeping his voice down. He sat back, putting his weight on his hands. “Where did you disappear to?”

“Went to speak to Jack about those agents,” Brian replied, looking around to make sure no one was listening. Luckily they’d gone back to chattering amongst themselves. “Something feels off about them, like they’re trying to get more information about what Jack does with us here.”

“Don’t worry about it for tonight,” Jimmy told him.

“Okay,” Brian agreed. They both sat forward to join the conversation with the rest of the group. The next few hours passed quickly, the fire never dying down. The sun set over them, throwing stream of orange, purple and pink in the winter sky. They talked and told stories, discussed mutations and family and friends. They reminisced about times with Will Graham and things they were going to miss about him. Jimmy decided, when the moon was high above them that it was time for a sing-along, an idea greeted more readily by the younger students than the older ones.

“Okay kids, you lot need to go to bed, that was the deal,” Beverly said as it neared midnight. The students it was directed at groaned, someone saying it wasn’t fair, but none of them argued when Beverly started grabbing their hands to pull them to their feet. Some of the youngest already falling asleep where they were sitting. A few of the girls made the round hugging the older students before they were dragged off by Beverly.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” she told the rest of them, both hands being held.

Now the group was smaller; Jimmy, Margot, Freddie, and Brian, they relaxed. Freddie made the fire bigger so they wouldn’t get cold and Jimmy found Brian’s hand and took it in his own.

“You two are going to make me puke,” Freddie said, flicking sparks off her fingers at them.

“Why? Jealous that you’re missing out?” Jimmy teased. Freddie stuck her tongue out.

“Gross, I wouldn’t want to make out with either of you,” she replied. They all looked up as Beverly came running out towards them, holding something they couldn’t make out in the dark.

“I got beer,” she grinned, collapsing on the floor. “I’ve been hiding it for weeks and if anyone tells I swear I will end you,” she warned.

“Beverly Katz you are the love of my life, sorry Bri,” Jimmy announced grabbing a bottle and an opener. The rest followed. Brian, who had never had alcohol, hesitantly took a sip.

“It tastes like shit, Bri, but it’s worth it,” Margot told him, taking a longer drink than was necessary from her bottle.

In the flickering light of the bonfire, the friends drunk until they were suitably tipsy, Jimmy ended up lounging across Brian’s lap, Brian playing with his hair and leaning down so that they could kiss every few minutes. Freddie had her head resting on Margot’s shoulder and looked like she was ready to fall asleep. Margot kept poking her side every time she looked as though she might nod off.

“Do you think Jack’s going get us killed?” Beverly asked. She was laying on her back playing with the end of her scarf.

“Probably,” Margot replied instantly, she’d drunk more than everyone else and her words slurred. “But I’m with him every step of the way. We’re fighting for the right things here and if we end up dying for it, at least we tried to make a difference.”

“You always say the nicest things,” Freddie sighed. Her eyelids her drooping, the fire dying as her attention lapsed. “I would die for you guys, but don’t tell anyone.”

“I’m going to tell everyone,” Jimmy said, his brain still telling him to tease everyone even though the usual dryness behind his words was gone.

“Shut up,” she replied, but there was no malice behind it.

“I would die for this as well,” Beverly decided. “It’s better than not trying.” Margot nodded at her.

“If I can die, same,” Jimmy said. They fell silent again, until Freddie gave a yawn which travelled around the group. Jimmy sat up and nuzzled Brian’s neck.

“I’m going to bed before those two make sick,” Freddie said, slowly standing up. The rest of them looked at each other and nodded. They spent a few minutes tidying up after themselves, and then walked together towards the house. Jimmy was resting his Brian’s shoulder and Beverly had her arm round him. Margot and Freddie linked arms.

Once they’d said goodnight, Brian and Jimmy ended up in Brian’s bedroom, laying with their legs tangled together on the bed.

“Did I ever tell you how I got here?” Jimmy asked, Brian shook his head.

“My Dad used to hit my Mom,” he said, nuzzling his nose into Brian’s hoodie. Brian held him tight, tired, but wanting to know the story. “He never laid on a finger on my twin, but every now and then he’d hit me as well. He hated me, said that I wasn’t normal person and that it was my Mom’s fault for being too soft on me.”

“Wait, you don’t have to-” Brian said, guessing at where this story was going and realising it was going to end up making him angry. Jimmy quietened him with a kiss.

“I was about thirteen I was in my room, and I could hear my Dad get back. He was drunk as usual, and he started on Mom,” he clenched his jaw at the memory. “But it sounded worse this time, I don’t know I guess he was wound up about something, but my Mum was screaming and I couldn’t just sit there and listen to her. So I went downstairs…”

“Jimmy,” Brian said into his hair.

“And my Mum was up against the wall, begging him to stop,” he stopped to steady his breathing, but he was in the swing of it now and wasn’t going to stop until he’d said it out loud. “Then he turned around, saw me, and told me to go to bed. I said no, and I walked forward and stood between them. Next thing I know he’s hitting me over and over and over again, saying that I wasn’t his son, that he wouldn’t raise a child to behave like I did, and he just wouldn’t stop. He was so big and so much stronger than me.”

Brian squeezed him tighter.

“I guess that’s when my mutation kicked in, because I started healing, and of course that just made it worse. He wouldn’t stop he started calling me freak and telling my Mom she was a whore who had been sleeping around because he couldn’t be my real Father. He went to the kitchen and got a knife, and told me that he was going to rid of me and make the world right again.”

Brian felt sick, he couldn’t imagine a Father behaving his way towards his son. Let alone someone behaving this way towards Jimmy.

“Then Jack Crawford turned up, with a mini Beverly Katz in tow,” Brian could feel Jimmy smile against the skin of his neck. “They pulled me out of there, brought me here. They saved me because I’m sure if there’s a way to kill me, he would have found it.”

They were quiet for a moment.

“I’m so sorry,” Brian said. “I’m sorry that ever happened to you.”

“It’s not your fault,” Jimmy said. “I’m sorry for what’s happened to you, and I’m sorry for being an asshole.”

Brian laughed. “I don’t think you’re an asshole,” he admitted. Jimmy pulled away slightly so Brian could see him raise his eyebrows. “Okay, I think you’re a bit of an asshole but that’s your charm.”

“If it makes you feel any better I think you’re a total asshole,” Jimmy grinned.

“Oh, really?” he replied. “What if I do this?” he said, before kissing Jimmy on the forehead.

“Yep,” Jimmy said, trying not to let on that his heart was currently doing somersaults and it was taking all the self-control he had not to jump on Brian.

“How about this?” he asked, kissing the tip of Jimmy’s nose. He shook his head.

“Still an asshole,” he replied, but his words sounded a little breathy.

“Oh, really?” Brian laughed as he pressed kisses all over Jimmy’s face until the other boy was squirming and laughing.

“Okay, okay, okay,” he said, “If you kiss me properly, I might reconsider your status as an asshole,” he said, puckering his lips. Brian pulled Jimmy’s face towards him until their lips met, they were both chapped from sitting out in the cold, but neither of them cared. Jimmy threaded his fingers through Brian’s hair, as the kiss heated up they laughed as their noses and foreheads bumped together, both trying to stay as close to the other as possible.

All of a sudden Brian broke the kiss, wrapping both his arms around Jimmy and breathing into his neck. Jimmy could feel how fast Brian’s heart was beating.

“Hey,” Jimmy said into his ear. “Hey, I’m alive, Bri, I’m alive.”

Jimmy returned the hug, running his finger through Brian’s curls. He adjusted his position slightly, then rested his head forehead against Brian’s, who opened his eyes.

“I’m not planning on dying anytime soon,” Jimmy said. “I promise.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

The basketball smacked into the side of Jimmy’ face and almost knocked him off the ground, the skin turned bright red where it had hit him. He turned to face Margot who was now laughing, Beverly behind her joined in.

“What was that for?” Jimmy demanded. “Look what you’ve done!” he said, pointing at where his face was stinging. Brian picked up the ball and threw it at the back of his head, hitting his target perfectly. Jimmy spun around.

“Heal yourself, dumbass, we’re losing and it’s your fault,” Brian said. Jimmy stuck his chin out and squared his shoulders in defiance.

“No. I’m going to walk around like this all day so everyone can see that Verger is evil,” he said, picking the ball up and dribbling it towards Margot and Beverly, the latter student swiftly stepping on his foot relinquishing his control of the ball and grabbing it away from him. “You’re all being ridiculous!” he said, his complaints drowned out by the sound of them laughing.

“Hey!” Someone yelled at them from across the lawn, they all turned to see Freddie coming towards them. They stopped what they were doing and gathered at the side of the court, Jimmy taking his opportunity to reclaim the ball before chucking it at Brian’s head in revenge.

“Georgia’s talking to Will,” she told them, her eyes wide as she kept looking back towards the house as though she was afraid of missing something. Knowing Freddie she had probably been hovering around wherever Georgia was for hours trying to find out what was going on. The medium had finally allowed Jack to start working on controlling her mutation, but they hadn’t found out any information beyond that. “Well are you coming?” she asked them.

“I don’t know, it’s not any of our business,” Beverly said. She looked up to the window of Jack’s office, the curtains were closed which was unusual, and she couldn’t hide the fact that she was dying to know what was going on.

“I’m not really in the mood for being yelled at by Jack,” Margot said. “So if we get caught I’m blaming you,” she said to Freddie, who just responded with a smile. Jimmy looked at Brian who shrugged.

“Well if it means everyone stops picking on me, I’ll come,” Jimmy said.

“Fine,” Beverly sighed, although secretly pleased everyone was going along with it. Together they walked backwards the house. A black car pulled up the drive.

“Shit, that’s S.H.I.E.L.D,” Brian said.

“Haven’t you already seen them this week?” Jimmy asked, taking Brian’s hand. Brian nodded and watched as Agent Lass got out of the car. He tugged away from Jimmy’s hand and kissed him on the cheek, ignoring Freddie pull a face at them.

“Go and find out what’s happening with Georgia, I’ll keep Lass busy,” he said. He jogged towards the car, calling the agent’s name to draw her attention, making sure she didn’t make it to the front door. She waved at Brian and waited for him to reach her. The rest of his friends made their way through the kitchen door.

“Hey, Miriam,” Brian greeted, using her first name to try and diffuse any tension. “Is there something wrong?” he asked, adding the question in quickly. Her eyes flitted towards the house, then back to the teenager.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” she said, pressing her lips together. “But I like you and I don’t think this school is a bad place.”

“What is it?” Brian asked.

“You have to warn Jack that S.H.I.E.L.D is planning to overturn the school, he thinks you’re all wrapped up in some anti-human plan. I don’t think you are, I know Crawford and I think he only wants to offer protection for you guys, I am right Brian?”

“This is just a school,” Brian said. He knew that he should probably tell her about the training and about what happened with Hannibal and Randall, but she was trusting him and she was right in believing this wasn’t a bad place. They certainly didn’t hold the same belief as Hannibal Lecter. Miriam nodded.

“But can you defend yourselves?” she asked. “Can you make sure the younger mutants are out of the way?”

Brian opened his mouth hesitantly, and then nodded. “Just tell me when.”

Miriam shook her head. “They need to be gone tonight, Brian.”

Brian let the words sink in, then took two steps back his brain already whirring into action.

“Tomorrow,” she said to him, just so he understood. He nodded again and then pivoted, rushing towards the house without worrying about what the agent was doing. She stood by her car for a few moments before climbing back into it, hoping that she had made the right decision. She knew from years of experience that S.H.I.E.L.D could be brutal in getting what they wanted, and she didn’t think innocent children needed to get caught up in it. She knew the school wasn’t exactly what it seemed, but she did whole heartedly believe that it was good.

Brian stormed up the stairs towards Jack’s office, assuming that’s where everyone was, and hurtled full force into Jimmy who was standing with the others, including Jack and Alana, in the middle of the stairs. He screamed his thoughts in his head, knowing that Jack would hear them quicker than trying to speak through his breaths.

“Slow down,” Jack said instantly, the group looked between the two of them.

“Miriam Lass just told me that S.H.I.E.L.D are planning to take over this place, they think we’re a threat and we need to get the younger students _out_ ,” Brian explained out loud.

“Georgia thinks that Hannibal is going to turn up here tomorrow, that’s what Will told her,” Alana said, her voice quiet. She didn’t know whether to believe it was really Will or not, the idea made her sad that he hadn’t been able to move on, but the chance of being able to talk to him one last time was overwhelming.

“You have a safe house, right, Jack?” Margot asked. “With your wife.”

“Yes, we’ll get everyone out now. Go and tell them to pack, I’ll alert Bella that we’re bringing kids over,” Jack said, he pushed through the group. The rest of them moved in the opposite direction, up the stairs, and started knocking on doors of the other students. Within the hour they were all waiting for Jack to give them orders, clutching at bags and huddling together. 

“I want you all in the jet and strapped in, okay?” Jack said, he knelt down to the smallest at the front and smiled at them. “You’ll be back in a couple of days, we just need to sort some things out. Think of it as a vacation,” he told them. They nodded at him, their hesitance diminishing, but it was clear from the mood of the older students that something else was at play here. Jack and Beverly took the children out to the jet, Alana and the others stayed and begun planning their defence, staying up late into the evening.

When Jack returned with Beverly they ran over their tactics. They didn’t know who was going to show up first so had planned for various situations. The best they could hope for was that Hannibal attacked first, and if S.H.I.E.L.D then showed up they’d realise they had bigger things to worry about than the school.

They were subdued as they bid goodnight, none of them wanting to sleep in case that’s what Hannibal or S.H.I.E.L.D were waiting for, but as the hours ticked by and nothing happened, eyelids began to droop and heads began to nod forward.

Beverly, Margot and Freddie decided to stay in the same room, none of them wanting to be left alone. Jimmy ended up with his back against Brian’s bedroom wall, soft kisses being pressed into his neck as he ran his hands through Brian’s hair and gave little hums of content. His hands found the collar of Brian’s t-shirt and so he pulled him closer, nudging him so that they’re eyes met, their noses resting against each other.

“Are you scared?” Brian asked, his voice was soft but Jimmy could hear the nervous edge to it. He gave Brian a quick grin.

“Not at all,” he said. It was an obvious lie, both of them knew it, but somehow it was easier to lie then admit how terrified he was. Or to say out loud that he wasn’t scared for himself, he was scared of losing Brian.

He turned the light off and then pushed Brian towards the bed, their lips meeting in a messy kiss as they lay next to each other. Jimmy ran his hand underneath Brian’s t-shirt, feeling his chest and stomach, letting his fingers trace patterns on his hips.

“Don’t die tomorrow,” he said, breaking the kiss, the possibility becoming too much for him.

“You neither, don’t do anything stupid because you think you’ll be able to heal from it,” Brian replied. Jimmy pushed air through his nose in a poor attempt at laughing.

“Me? Do something stupid?” he smiled, sarcasm clear in his voice. Brian smiled as well, although he didn’t feel like it. He kissed Jimmy again, trying to remember everything; the way Jimmy would always lean into him after a few seconds, trying to get closer, how Jimmy could never keep his hands in one place, how he would change between gentle and heated with no warning.

“What’s wrong?” Jimmy asked, pulling back again and touching Brian’s cheek. Brian shook his head.

He thought about telling Jimmy the conversation he’d had with Jack the week before. _I could kill Hannibal Lecter._ The thought hadn’t left his mind. Jimmy would lose it if he told him, and Brian didn’t plan on acting on it. He just couldn’t help thinking, if it came to it, if they were losing and killing Hannibal was enough to break his followers, Brian couldn’t promise he wouldn’t do it. It was probably the only thing that he was good for.

“I’m just worried,” Brian said. “I don’t want anything to go wrong.”

“It won’t,” Jimmy said. “Look at me,” their eyes met again. “Everything is going to be fine, that’s a Jimmy Price promise.”

There was a million things Brian wanted to say in return. He wanted to promise that Jimmy was going to be fine, that their friends were going to be fine. He wanted to say _l love you, Jimmy Price, you’re an asshole, but I love you._ He didn’t. He nodded and stole another kiss.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, neither of them moving, even in their sleep still clinging to each other in case they didn’t get another chance.

In the watery light of dawn they were awoken by voices outside, demanding that Jack come out with his hands up. Their eyes fluttered open at the same time, and gave themselves a few seconds of silence and one last, soft, lingering kiss before they climbed out of bed. Still in the clothes they were wearing yesterday Brian hurried to throw his hoodie and gloves on.

They joined Jack in the hallway as he opened the door.  Margot, Beverly, Freddie, and Alana already there. Together they stepped outside.

“Jack Crawford my name is Matthew Brown, surrender yourself and we will not have to harm you or any other mutants in your protection.”

Jack rose his hands in surrender. The rest of them copying him as they agreed. Matthew Brown gave them a thankful nod.

“Can I speak?” Jack asked him.

“Are you armed?” the agent asked him.

“No,” Jack turned out his pockets and took off his suit jacket. Brown nodded. “I understand that you find my establishment to be a threat. I can assure you that we are not, we believe in peace between mutants and humans,” he spoke slowly and clearly. He stayed still as not to startle anyone. “But there is a mutant, Hannibal Lecter, he has followers and his beliefs are much more dangerous. He is planning to attack this school _today_ , and if you help us we will be completely compliant.”

Brown lowered his weapon, the other agents following in pursuit.

“We’ve heard about Hannibal Lecter-”

“Jack,” Margot said, looking down the drive. The gathering of people turned to where she was looking.

“Am I interrupting something?” Hannibal called to them. “I will be happy to wait.”

Bedelia Du Maurier, however, wasn’t. If there was some cue, no one else noticed as she blasted half the agents out of the way with ice erupting from her hand. Freddie leapt into action to counter her attacks, as always, fire beating ice.

The scene fell into disarray, the agents all bumping into each other not knowing what they were supposed to be doing. As with the last time they met Margot made headway for her bother, but he grew quickly threatening to crush anyone underfoot before she got there. Alana ran after her, using her telekinesis to keep him where he was, but it was much more difficult with a living, moving object.

Abigail went after Jimmy again, and Jimmy was all too happy to engage. Beverly went for Tobias, and that was when the plan started to fall away. After returning to her solid state to land a punch to the man’s stomach, a well-timed attack on his part made her screech with pain. Jimmy looked over to her, meaning Abigail had a chance to drag her claws down his face. Brian rushed over to Beverly, but she managed to stand up and wave them all back. In her intangible state she blocked another of Tobias’ attacks, and worked to move him away from the others.

The agents were trying to help retrain Mason, but a handful of them were already laying on the floor in piles that barely resembled human bodies.

Hannibal and Jack were standing opposite sides of the chaos, staring each other out. Hannibal was willing him to slip, to use his mutation so that he could claim it for himself. But Jack held steady.

One thing was obvious; they were losing. The agents were not prepared for such intense combat and were being checked off at an alarming rate by sharp blasts of ice, Mason’s abnormal size, even Abigail was sticking her claws in wherever she could. They were being pushed back, and Bedelia was trying to clear a path towards Jack. Freddie trying her best to stop her.

Brian felt useless, but didn’t know where to step in, everyone was trying to stick to their opponents marked out by their plan last night, and Brian was supposed to be hanging back unless he was needed.

That’s when Bedelia passed Hannibal, touching his hand ever so lightly. Brian saw his hand freeze over before melting, his smile widening.

A deadly shard of ice flew from Hannibal’s hand to Freddie’s calf, knocking her to the ground as she cried out in pain. Bedelia stood over her and a monster in Brian’s chest roared with anger, every cell in his body craving the chance to fight, to end this.

He closed his eyes. Every person he had ever killed flashed in his mind – his sisters, his friends, people who he had never even spoke to who had accidentally brushed against him. There was one more death that could perhaps save millions.

When he reopened his eyes, he knew that Jack was watching him.  He half willed the head teacher to take control of his mind, to stop him, to at least tell him not to be an idiot. He didn’t. He stood and watched as Brian wove his way between mutants and humans a like towards Hannibal Lecter, who smiled as his eyes fell on the teenager.

Brian’s stomach churned as Hannibal smiled at him, he seemed sympathetic and made no move to run or fight. He may have well welcomed him with open arms.

Brian would reach him in a four more steps, and once he was close enough he had to execute his plan without wasting time. He had one thing to do and he was going to do it.  Three steps to go, no one was paying attention to him apart from Jack. Beverly was still throwing everything she had at Tobias despite the piercing pain from her destroyed eardrums. Margot was restraining her brother, finding it difficult against his size but managing to keep him away from everyone else, Brian had a feeling she had a broken arm but appeared to be ignoring it. Freddie was holding her own for now, protecting herself from Bedelia with a shield of flames around her.  

Two steps left, and Alana laid eyes on him. She was still helping Margot restrain Mason by putting all her concentration into keeping him in one spot. She screamed something at him, but Brian couldn’t hear her, everything sounded like it was happening a million miles away from him.

One more step, and Jimmy, who had heard Alana’s shout, dropped his defence against Abigail to turn around and find Brian. She took her chance to pierce her claws through his clothes, tearing at his skin causing ragged cuts that burst with blood instantly. He crippled over, trying to get to Brian, blood now on his hands and his voice hoarse, drawing attention from everyone.

Brian couldn’t take his eyes off Jimmy, try to put everything into one look; I’m sorry, I love you, I’ll miss you, you’re going to be fine.

He reached over and grabbed Hannibal’s wrist.

The two of them fell to the ground together.

Everything sped up again for Jimmy, who felt like he had just watched a dream sequence. The cuts across his torso healed and Abigail was running ahead of him. Margot and Alana were running for the same spot, Mason behind them crushing anything that didn’t get out of his path. He stepped over the two women and picked up the lifeless bodies of Hannibal and Brian.

Under Mason’s protection the rest of them followed. Jimmy tried to go after them, a tumble of insults and screams falling from his mouth as Margot held him back. Beverly had fallen to the ground, clutching the sides of her head as the pain of Tobias’ attacks overwhelmed her. The S.H.I.E.L.D agents looked around in confusion not sure if they should be arresting anyone or not.

Jack walked over to Jimmy.

“This is your fault,” Jimmy screamed at him, tears were streaming down his face mixing with the blood from his previous injury. “Let go of me,” he said to Margot. “Let go!”

Margot stood away from him, her hands falling to her side in defeat. Jimmy launched himself towards Jack and then froze and Jack took control of his mind, not allowing himself to receive the attacks that Jimmy was about to throw at him.

“It was his decision,” Jack said. “He made his choice.”

He kept hold of Jimmy for a few seconds before letting go, as soon as his mind was his own Jimmy fell to the floor and curled up, his face buried in his knees as his shoulder shook with his sobs. Beverly made her way over to him, barely standing with the pain, then kneeled next to him. She put an arm round his shoulder and put her face on her shoulder as they cried. Freddie was still lying on the floor, protecting herself with flames, her leg bleeding out. Margot ran over to her, the flames slowly dying as Freddie looked around and tried to work out what had happened, Margot trying to tend to her leg.

“No,” she said in a voice so quiet it was barely audible. “No,” she repeated, louder. Her bottom lip trembled and Margot pulled her into a hug, the two girls holding each other up as a both began to cry.

Alana stood between Jimmy and Bev, and Margot and Freddie trying to usher them away. Jack stepped forward, but to his surprise was thrown back.

“You could have stopped him,” Alana said, her voice harsh and accusing.

“Alana,” Jack began to say. She shook her head at him.

“Don’t you dare. He was seventeen, Jack. _Seventeen,”_ she said. She gently helped Jimmy and Beverly to their feet, knowing that Bev and Freddie both needed immediate medical attention. With her arms around them Beverly and Jimmy she started walking back towards the house, using her mutation to carefully lift Freddie. She ignored orders from Jack and the surrounding agents. The students were under her protection now, and she’d like to see someone try and stop her.

***

“The serum from Jimmy Price’s DNA was successful,” Bedelia said, standing at the foot of the bed that Brian Zeller was currently laying in. “The regenerative factor has restarted his heart. He’s alive.” She looked pleased with herself. Abigail nodded. “Shall I give Hannibal the same treatment?”

“No,” Abigail said quickly, walking around so that she was the other side of the bed from Bedelia.

“That was the plan, Abigail,” Bedelia reminded her.

“That was Hannibal’s plan. This is my plan. We don’t need Hannibal Lecter he’s evil, and we don’t need someone who is happy to kill more mutants than we’ve already lost. What we need is an assassin to exterminate the minimal amount of people necessary for us to get what we’re owned.” Bedelia nodded, Abigail could tell that she was reluctant but wouldn’t argue.

“What shall I do with him?”

“Brainwash him with the technology that Hannibal created. Make him forget that he has any connections or friends with the people at the school. Then put him in cryostasis, we’ll wake him up when we have mission for him.”

Bedelia and Abigail watched the boy breathe, no long aided by machines as he had been hours ago.

“He’s the perfect weapon.”

 

 


End file.
